Sin's Remedy
by Illegal Sleep
Summary: With the blaze set behind her, she stood there with that gust blowing through her hair walking away, disappearing into the darkness, and she was never seen again. Until several years later... ItachixOC -Hiatus-
1. Psychotic Brat

**AN: Hello old readers, and new readers. For you old readers you will notice there is something different. The chapter is different? Why, because I wrote this story in 2006, well these chapters and I was looking back on it and I though, what in the world was I thinking? So, I changed it. Over the 4 year span things have changed, my style has changed somewhat and well we know things more now that we had not known back in. ****In a past review someone asked me who Rei was. Rei was the name I had given the leader because we had not known his name. So, I had to go through it and change his name but decided to just add more and make it different. **

**For you new readers, I've changed this because I'm hoping that people will continue to read because my style has changed a bit, or maybe a lot. LOL. So, this chapter is currently up to date with my writing style. So for the next few chapters you will see a difference. Please realize I have not re-did those chapters and bare through it. Just so you realize that. 3 **

**And finally, PLEASE review. I love reviews that make me happy and motivate me more to continue writing. For you old readers, please tell me how you like the new chapter or not. I know there is bound to be some mistakes, and I'm sorry about that. I'll re-read through it later and change it.**

* * *

There are a few thing civilization has done millions of years. Eat, sleep, and gossip. No matter how small the village, how little the population, gossip went around. It either boosted a reputation, or torn it limb from limb from the sharp teeth of a vicious animal. Rumors also start many legends and are told to generations on and on. Only if there are survivors to tell of those happenings of the past. Only a few people know of this tale for it hasn't been decades on ends since this tragic fable.

There was a small village between on a isolated island from the leaf village and the land of waves. They were known as the shadow dragon village. A very small and humble village it was. They had many temples, and prayed to the protector of their small village. The same protector that kept them from getting invaded by those larger countries. They had no shinobi, only a very small force of the finest samurai they have. They had no technology advancements so it meant very old and traditional medicinal practices. So things most medical shinobi were able to detect, and find out wrong and diagnose, they weren't able to. Not having the knowledge, one could mistake a common ailment for something far more drastic. Yet, every villager counted on this savior of theirs to keep the disastrous events from occurring. No one would have predicted what happened about seven years ago when the shadow dragon village was wiped to nothing.

Every child in the shadow dragon village was a sacred. Each an every villager pitched in to raise the child. A special child had been born. When a child was born from a woman deemed unable to have children, that was a miracle child. It was considered a blessing. Only to find out when the child grew, they displayed behaviors that could not be explained. Their finest medicine could not diagnose her problems. Some spoke of this child be possessed by a demon. Others just plain out said she was insane. It was just easier to toss her into a solitary room for the rest of her life and pretend that this abomination was never born. A bad mistake. No one has been able to hide the shame of their life. Karma was going to bite you in the ass. Unfortunately, for the shadow dragon village, they were bitten hard. The girl ravaged the village. Killing every man, woman, and child, setting houses on fire and destroying everything in her path. The small populated village of 500 was erased off the map. She stood there with a gust blowing through her hair, walking away into the darkness, and she was never seen again.

There is only one question that remains. Was she truly as insane as they thought, a demon possessing her soul? Or was it just a case of multiple personality disorder?

~*~

A dark abyss filled the cave. Several figures stood there on top of the fingers inside of the hideout. Everyone but two figures stood there in person."Glad you two can make it, despite the fact that your on a mission."

Kisame sighed hastily, "Well, it was your orders."

His eyes glanced towards Itachi with an annoyance. Basically, Kisame was saying that this was Itachi's fault that they were cutting their mission off for a moment. They were so close to completing it and then taking a break sounded really nice too. The Uchiha had sensed the distress Kisame held over this. Unnecessary if you asked him, "What's so urgent that we have to possibly cut our mission short?" he questioned.

Grey eyes adverted to the holographic figures that stood in their appropriate spots, "Do you believe in... rumors Itachi-san...?" the leader was nonchalant.

Crimson eyes read that they were not amused, and rather have their leader get straight to the point of why they were summoned here. "Well, one of our spies has been gathering information. While out on his latest run, he spotted a girl."

Immediately, Kisame did not sound impressed, "A girl...?"

"don't be so hasty," the leader spoke, "let me finish. Anyways, I don't know if any of you have heard of the shadow dragon village?"

"I have." Itachi responded.

"Alright then, I guess you're familiar with the massacre that happened seven years ago, yes?"

Itachi nodded his head then. The leader went on, "Anyways, the girl who was said to have killed the whole village was said to be spotted. She matched up the description. Forest green hair and eyes to match. Though, he couldn't be sure. Her entire face was covered by a straw hat and body veils by a large black cloak.. So, Kisame-san, Itachi-san, if you two could go find out if its really her."

"What if its this girl, Pein-sama?" Itachi's cold voice rolled throughout the hideout.

Pein closed his eyes, "Capture her and if the rumors are true or not. I guess we'll see. Somehow, we'll manage it."

So basically, he wanted whatever power she had for his own will to bend? Sounded something like him. "Alright, we're on it." Itachi said.

"Wait." Pein called abruptly.

Kisame sighed in annoyance and they waited to see what else he had to say, "I don't want you two getting killed."

BAM, he just shot both Itachi's and Kisame's egos down. Itachi was extremely offended by this but, it did not show. "Pein-sama, I'm sure Kisame and I can handle a girl. Insane or not I can take her down with no problems. I am the person who had that snake Orochimaru running out with his tail between his legs."

"You're quite ignorant Itachi-san. Your underestimating an opponent you know nothing about."

Who knew such elegant Uchiha features could become so slack and long. How could the air between the leader and the two best members Pein has ever had be so tense? The other Akatsuki members did not dare to utter a word. There was a long moment of silence.

"Then what do you postulate?" questioned the smug Uchiha.

Pein responded with an equally smug tone, "Deidara will be attending you on your trip."

"What?!" Deidara stepped forward, "Nuh-uh, no way! I'm absolutely not going with sharky and  
Mr. Ego. Their no fun, yeah!"

"You're going whether you like it or not." Pein was the leader and there was no more questioning his decision.

A deep sigh escaped Deidara as he looked down, "Just great," he got himself up and started following Itachi out of the cave, "I have to tag along and find a stupid psychotic brat, un."

Kisame lingered behind for a moment, he turned his head back to stare at their leader, "This group will only be temporary... correct?"

Pein smirked quite devilishly, "We'll see."

Not liking that response, he felt this was only going to go down hill. Kisame was more comfortable with Itachi as his partner. It just stuck that way. They have been working together for a while and have a great way about going everything. Itachi usually stood and watched ans Kisame got to fight and have all the fun. With Deidara, who knew how horribly messed up their team work was going to be. The clay master was stubborn as mule and like doing things his own way. "Where do we even begin to look?" Deidara claimed.

Itachi inspected the area around them. Many trees obscured their vision, but could serve was a very good tactic, "We know she's around the hide out, assuming what Pein said was true."

Without another word Itachi darted off into the deep foliage. Shocked, Deidara rushed to go catch up because Kisame was much quicker to react to him darting off. After coming up behind Itachi, he was moving swiftly and elegantly through the branches. "Where are we going?" he huffed for a moment.

"You'll see." Kisame answered, "Itachi has his ways."

Deidara groaned once more, he tossed his head back. No more complaining though. He just had to keep going. Who would be insane enough to have Itachi's crimson death glare tearing the insides of your soul out? Flashes of green leaves and dodging small branches from smacking one of them in the face. They spent close enough to an hour jumping through the trees. Yet, there was no signs of this girl. Itachi came to a steady halt. "We'll set a camp up."

There was no sign of her being around here. He didn't get any surges of chakra. Kisame didn't either and surely enough samehada wasn't reacting. Deidara also spoke of no such news either. So, that just mean they were going to have to sit down and wait things out. Yawning lightly, he went to go find a nice little perfect spot for them to set up camp.

A little later on, all thee sat around the fire. Deidara and Kisame were sleeping around the fire. Itachi was going to be the first watch of the night. No problem. There was a slight chill in the autumn air, his hands crossed against his chest as he stared into the endless night sky. Stars danced and twinkled before his speculating eyes. The moon stood still as it beamed down onto the earth. With the two idiots sleeping, this was a very peaceful night. Silence was the best time for this thinking and swarming thoughts. With no tents, no sleeping bags and just the fire, Itachi had retreated his arms t the inside of his black cloak decorated with red clouds outlined with white. The Uchiha's crimson eyes flitted shut, as he went to a light slumber but kept his guard up.

"Hey," Kisame's gruff voice filled through the small area echoing off, "I think there is someone near by."

Samehada was going crazy. An immense chakra that was not hidden very well flooded the morning area and the chirping birds. Itachi stood up to dust his cloak off and stared to Deidara. The clay master was still fast asleep, and looked to Kisame. Just by that gaze, the fish man could read exactly what his partner was thinking. A broad grin spread across his blue face as he went to go wake up the sleeping beauty. "Wake up, sleepy head." Kisame made sure to get right in front of his face.

The blond's eyes began to flutter as they were slowly waking up. He couldn't make out the figure that was Kisame. All he could hear was this very displeasing voice, one that could make his ears bleeds. "Nnn..." he mumbled trying to swat whatever it was away.

After opening his eyes up a little bit more and seeing those fish eyes staring right down at him. "Holy shit!" he yowled

Immediately that sent his heart into a frenzy as he quickly back away screaming, A rock smacked Kisame in the face and a displeased look came across his face. It hadn't stayed for long though because Kisame burst our laughing. The clay master growled, "Oh how funny, yeah?"

"You should have seen the look on your face, it was priceless." that grunting laughter continued more.

"Alright, enough." Itachi sighed as he brushed some strands of his dark locks away from his face.

Deidara was extremely pissed off, "That's no fair. You're going to let him do that? Really, un."

His blue eyes were directed towards the male with long dark hair. He merely shrugged it off and went off to a different subject, "It seems someone is near. Their chakra is strong enough to get Samehada going."

Deidara frowned, "Hm,"

After a moment, he felt it too. He turned his head away off over to the side and stared. The only bad part abut this horrible hidden chakra that it seemed to be all over the place. Kisame walked up to one of the trees and began to sniff it. This made Deidara back up with this incredulous look on his face. This just made Kisame seem even more strange to him. "Whoever they are, they purposely left their chakra all over the place."

"They like to play games then. Heh, this should prove to be somewhat more amusing than I thought it would be, yeah." Deidara had his hands by his clay pouch.

Though this was the worst mission in the world for Deidara, a few explosions here and there would be enough to make this more enjoyable for him. "Alright then Kisame, you go that way and Deidara you head that way." Itachi would be covering the other way.

Of course, his original partner was quick to move off. Deidara on the other hand was just a bit hesitant for a moment because taking orders from Itachi was no fun. Sasori had been no fun either, no one was fun for him anymore because they were all serious pants and Tobi was just an idiot. Swiftly, Itachi moved slowly through the foliage. Pushing small branches out of his way, the leaves shaking gently as he passed through them. Something snapped, but it wasn't from him. He went to peek over, and saw a figure move fast off towards the east direction. It was probably her.

The stealthy Uchiha shifted through the foliage with much as much grace and elegance as a feline. Soon enough it brought him to a point where Deidara and Kisame ran into each other. "Have you seen her?" Kisame asked.

"I'm almost positive it was her, she was heading this way." Itachi informed.

Kisame responded, "I saw a glimpse of her too."

"Un," Deidara grunted.

Which pretty much mean that he spotted her too. She probably started walking north from then. With much caution, the three of them headed north. Nothing was to make a sound. In order to make sure that they could here her from any direction, complete silence was in order. Which seemed to work, he heard a small voice to himself, as if it was arguing with... itself? How odd. With a light scowl on his face, he peered over to see their target that was in sight. She had fallen silent as she sat there. The female had dark green forest hair, from the skin showing from her hands she was extremely pale, and her face had been hidden from the large straw hat that obscured her face. The large black cloak covering over her entire body, you might have not been able to tell that she was indeed a female. Kisame took a step forward. To his dismay he snapped a twig in half with that single step. Quickly, Itachi slapped his hand over Deidara's mouth before he screamed bloody murder to the shark man.

"Who's there?" her voice hazed over and she looked up towards their direction.

Itachi caught a glimpse of her eyes. Their bright emerald green color read that she was a killer. They seemed as cold and emotionless as his own. "Show yourself." she demanded.

"So much for trying to sneak up on her, un." Deidara wasn't impressed.

All three Akatsuki males showed themselves from outside of the brush. A slow grin spread across her face, "Heh, so I am assuming you three wish to challenge me then? Who the hell are you and what the fuck do you want with me?" she snarled.

Itachi cocked his head to the side, giving her this incredulous gaze. "You're quite arrogant, aren't you? Assuming your stronger than three S-ranked criminals. I'm sure you've heard of the organization called the Akatsuki." the girl stared at him, brows pinched together, "We were given orders to capture a girl rumored to have been roaming around our base."

"Heh," her thumb swiped the corner of her mouth, "I guess we'll see about that then, won;t we?"

Something in Deidara's blood was beginning to boil. The way she acted so cocky, the way she stared at them with such confidence, "I can't wait to blow that sadistic smirk on your face." Deidara's own little smug look spread ear to ear.

Slowly the girl was beginning to back off. Inch by inch, not once taking her eyes off of them. A laughter began to stir in her throat as he grinned. "Well then." she suddenly jumped and disappeared into the trees, "Catch me if you can!" the faint sound of her voice came.

This girl had incredible speed, so there was no time to lose. Even though Itachi would rather be finishing his mission, it must have been incredibly important for Pein. The leader must have wanted her a lot. "Move it, we can't afford to lose her now."

If they didn't get a step on it then they would lose her. If they lost her then he could hear Pein's disappointed but mocking tone scolding them for not being able to catch a simple girl. If she really was a simple girl. Brushing some strands of his hair away from his face the three Akatsuki males bounded off after this supposed insanely powerful kunoichi, or rather, girl. There was no question to doubt about it, he would capture. There was no 'would they be able to catch her.' Itachi's perfectionist, superiority complex self would not allow mistakes to be made. It was already written in stone in the depths of his mind that they would capture the target.

Through the thicket of the leaves, her maniacal laughter rang through forest. The chase was on.


	2. Capture

Chapter Two:

The girl with forest green locks ran through the sea of trees. She had a smirk upon her face as she ran way from the Akatsuki that were tailing her. Why are they after me? she thought.

Itachi could see the girls cloak flapping behind her. His ears could pick up the sounds from it as well. Which was a good thing for them because all they had to do was keep an ear out for her. Bits of her dark forest green hair was flowing as the wind took it. Itachi saw the girl making an effort to lose them. Because all of a sudden, she just disappeared. Itachi slightly growled as he cursed, "Where's that wench..." Cold ice dripped from Itachi's voice.

Up in the trees as she began to jump across branch to branch, she looked back. She didn't see them tailing her anymore. Which meant that they either gave up. Or they were thinking of the plan to capture her. She stopped for a moment and let her digits touch the tree bark. It was rough and bumpy as her smooth skin touched it. She pressed her finger tips more into the bark of the tree, to the point where she saw blood dripping down the tree. She could feel the warm liquid flow down and spider web down her palm. She only gave a creepy smile to the blood dripping down. "I don't sense them..." she whispered to herself in that hazy tone.

Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara walked on the forest floor. Everything was silent, not even the steps of the small Akatsuki group could be heard. Their feet had lightly tapped onto the grass. Kisame began to sniff the air slightly as a tangy scent came to his nose. "I can smell blood." He said.

"Where..." Itachi asked tonelessly.

The shark hybrid took another good wiff of the air. He closed his shark like optics, and then looked up. "It's coming from up there." His blue finger pointed up into the trees.

"Good, then we can get this brat, yeah?" Deidara said with a grin plastered on his face.

The girl clutched on to the cloak, like if she were clutching on to her heart. She took in deep breaths trying to catch her air. Not only did she suffer from a mental illness, but she also suffered from aphysical illness. It wasn't lung cancer, but it was something as simple as asthma. Remembering what the doctors said, 'Exercise helps build up your lungs' that was bullshit for her. She took in another deep breath as she finally was able to gain her normal breathing. She couldn't run fast for very long distances. It was too much for her. She sensed something, their chakra. She furrowed her eyebrows, "How troublesome..." she muttered. Her hazy tone was low and deep yet it held a feminine tonein it as well.

The cloaks of black and red clouds stuck out like sore thumbs up in the trees. The hues of green and brown did not blend with the colors of the Akatsuki cloaks. The troubled girl sort of had an advantage of blending. Her hair was the color of the leaves that looked in the shade... which was a pretty dark green. "Some where around here." Kisame spoke, "The blood is still there, but it isn't as strong."

Itachi nodded his head and his sharingan eyes of crimson scanned the area. He smirked when he spotted the girl. "There she is, about time." Itachi spoke annoyed and in that obviously pissed off tone.

The girl just stood there, staring at the Akatsuki. She wasn't running away, not yet. She just stood there, "What do you want me to do..." she whispered to herself.

Was this girl actually talking to herself? Itachi slightly raised an eyebrow. There was a silence creeping in the air. The girl with dark green forest hair nodded her head. She closed her calming emerald optics, then opened them. They held a crazy maniac killer look in them. The look of a truely mentally challenged person. She went forward with her charge, black cloak flapping in the wind. Her hand was out and she swiped at the blonde. He jumped back on to another tree branch. "Ha!" Deidara spoke.

The girl smirked, "Look again..." Her voice was in a dangerous tone.

"Ah... what's this, yeah?" Deidara spoke and he touched his stomach and felt a small trickle of his blood on the stomach of his Akatsuki cloak. He could also see a bit of a darker spot as well.

Itachi looked at her, No wonder... he thought.

The shark hybrid looked at her. He smirked as he took out the sword Samehada. "Kisame-san, go easy. Rei does want her alive..."

He nodded his head slightly. That toothy smirk upon his face. He lunged forward and started running after the girl. Who jump up to dodge his attack. But she found it hard to do so. That sword was rather large, and the girl wasn't that fast enough to dodge that attack. But after she could take in more of Kisame's movements, she could dodge easier. "Behind me!" She shouted hazily.

The elder Uchiha had came up behind her with a kunai in his hand. He went to stab it in her arm. But the girl with forest green locks twisted her body strangely and dodged the kunai attack. Itachi's crimson eyes slightly widened in surprise. But of course, that stone face hid that surprised feature pretty well. She performed a couple of hand signs as her fist began to glow a black aura around it. Then it wrapped around her fist turning into a shining black ice. "Ice fist!"

She went to attack the Uchiha's side, but with his speed he dodged her attack. Then he looked behind him and saw the girl right behind him, like a shadow. He saw that look on her face... that made him a bit doubtful and scared inside. But he didn't show it... because he didn't have the ability to show fear, just the cold face. Itachi felt a sharp pain on his side as he was sent flying into a tree. Something told him that, she was holding back... a lot. Deidara saw this chance to jump in. The clay master molded a clay spider and he sent them flying at the girl. He made the hand sign to send the spider into an explosive bomb, and blow the girl back to knock her out. But all of a sudden they were sent back to him with a thing of black ice heading his way. Deidara had seen the damage caused to Itachi when he got hit with that black ice fist. So, Deidara jumped up and dodged it. "Whoa! what the hell, yeah?"

Deidara was slightly frightened when in a blink of an eye... she was there right behind him! He jumped forward like a scurrying mouse getting away from a cat as she went to go attack him. "Dammit Kisame, attack the brat, un!" He retorted.

"Fuck, keep your pants on!" Kisame rolled his eyes.

The shark hybrid lunged towards her again, and went to attack the girl. She barely dodged it again. But soon enough she began to make swift movement just enough to make her look like she was invisible. Kisame glanced over to Itachi, who was obviously building up enough strength to capture her. That blow must have really gotten to Itachi-san... Kisame thought.

He wasn't paying attention, so a fist flew in his face, and an elbow jabbed into his stomach. He could feel the pain curling up in his insides. He narrowed his eyes in the mind streaking pain. Just like the Uchiha, he met the same fate. His back slammed into a tree. He was knocked out from the impact of the blow. His head lolled down.

Deidara began to grow worried. Itachi was over there gathering his strength, the shark hybrid was passed out... and here the clay master was standing in front of some psychotic brat. The girl licked her lips hungrily. Her slick tongue leaving a moist wet trail on her lips. She was thirsty for that red tangy blood. She wanted it to spill all over that face of hers. She was going to make Deidara her pray for that. "Itachi-san, hurry up... yeah?" He shouted a bit desperately.

Uchiha Itachi had his teeth clenched. So... this girl was really that strong. There was no doubt about that. But the girl was holding back, and so was he. Itachi might even have to use..._it_

Though, the elder Uchiha was skeptical about using it thought. It would take too much from his body... and further advance his vision being destroyed. He watched as Deidara sent another wave of this clay spiders. Some had latched onto the girls leg. She gave out this ear splitting shriek. Deidara was about to make the hand sign to make them explode. "Deidara-san, stop!" The Uchiha scolded.

That blue eye of Deidara looked to Itachi. Who was know standing tall and proud. The Uchiha continued to scold, "We want her alive. If you blow off a limb, she'll die from blood loss by the time we go back to the Akatsuki headquarters."

Deidara pouted, and made the spiders unlatch from the girl. Itachi jumped up onto the branch. He stood vertically across from the girl. The leaves began to rustle in the gentle breeze that was partaking in this later after noon now. Just from the little light that was able to escape into this dim forest, you could tell that the sun was setting over the horizon. Those orange hues mixed in the blue was clearly seen in the sky. Purples were also splashed into the array of colors. Itachi was building up strength to use his attack on the girl. But would it work, of course it would. The wind began to gently blow, taking the girls hair and black cloak into the wind. The leaves could be heard rustling more as the wind began to give off a more powerful blow. Itachi's black locks were slightly taken into the wind as his bangs were. That cloak of black and red clouds made the same flapping sound as the girls black cloak. "Well..." she spoke hazily.

The elder Uchiha could tell she began to grow impatient just standing there. She knew he was stalling as well. Because if he really wanted her dead, well... he would just come straight for her. Of course, hopefully with a tactic in mind. Someone would have to be stupid to just charge in like that. Just a bit more. Itachi thought.

I wonder what he's doing... the girl with forest green hair thought.

As she stood on the tree branch, her crazed glare was on Itachi's stone like gaze. Both stood there evenly just staring at each other from the distance they were in. Itachi's figure was taller than hers and more brooding as well. The girl slightly bit her lip to puncture it. She was in need of more blood shed, so she bit her lip. The red substance began to dribble down her chin. The drops would build up at the end and drip on to the branch she stood on. There was a small drip sound. After a couple more moments of that deadly silence, Uchiha Itachi made his attack. With on swift movement he had the girl pinned to the tree she was standing on. His cold gaze was now locked with those emerald oculus that held such a crazed look. With that, she was knocked out. Consumed into the darkness of the Tsukiyomi attack.

* * *

An: Ok, this chapter is out. If Tsukiyomi isn't spelled right I'm sorry. It's the way I found it spelt on a wallpaper I saw. So I spell it like that anyway, please reveiw. 


	3. Realm of Dreams

What had happened? All of a sudden there was a jolt a pain. Experiencing the twinge of doing reprehensible deeds, blood trickling and spraying on to wall. Cadavers' falling down like flies it was all too horrible to go through again. But she was imagining it all in her mind. The sky was filled with crimson red as the moon of scarlet shone down on the village that once was. The fifteen year old girl just stood there and watched as her smaller form did all of this.

Was the homicide really all that dire? She enjoyed it back then. Hearing the people cry out in agony as they were meeting their kismet. Watching attentively with shaken feared emerald oculus and her twelve year old form, she looked like she was having fun. Or did the killings just make her more messed up than she already was. She then slumped to her knees after a moment longer of watching this. "NO! It told me to! It told me to do this!" she shouted.

That little voice that was inside her head told her to slaughter everyone in the village, it told her to. She put her hands over her head, digits running smoothly through her silky dark locks of dark forest green then entangling it within the spaces of her fingers. Her optic were wide with trepidation and that look she often gave when having a scene. "Stop it, stop it!" she repeated over and over.

But no matter how hard she screamed and bellow for this to stop. It wouldn't impede, it was still going. When she would get done with this torture… who knows? Maybe only Itachi did.

------

But just that moment the girl went shooting up from her nightmares holding on to her head. Tears fell down her pastel facade. For a moment she wasn't aware of the surrounding. The male silhouettes watching the girl as she had a breakdown. Then her vision grew a bit clearer. Now taking in the depths of this place, the darkness surrounding her, cold floors which she had sat upon, the nameless girl with her dark forest green locks looked at everyone staring at her. "What's your name?" a voice abruptly asked.

She snapped her head to the direction she heard the voice. Staring down at her was a pair of red eyes. These weren't the menacing sharingan eyes, no. Those eyes were much more dangerous and sinister. Her emerald eyes peered up and made a face, as if she was being stubborn and not going to answer the man. "I said, what's your name?" He seemed to be growing impatient.

Emerald optic easing close her calm, obscure yet feminine voice had replied to the man's question, "My name is Yuki, Kin Yuki."

So, Yuki was her name then, golden snow was what her full surname meant. She looked around for her straw hat. It was no where to be seen. Yet, it was hard to see in such a dark dreadful place. Yuki wasn't fond of this cave at all. It sent shivers down her spine. But none the less she kept such a calming expression upon her face. The Uchiha had now stepped forward, just arriving back from the first mission he was on. "She just woke up Itachi-san, yeah." Deidara said.

His feminine like features were often teased by the other Akatsuki member. Itachi kept that calming look on his visage. He looked to the girl as she held this expression on her face, "Seems the Tsukiyomi attack lasted longer than I thought…" he muttered under his face.

Yuki finally stood up looking around at the Akatsuki. For a moment she was soundless, her eyes scanning the area, taking in every aspect of the dark cave, "What do you want with me?" Yuki inquired.

Of course why should she have asked a question like that? Yuki has heard of their intentions on capturing the tailed beasts. But, did they need her strength? After all she has killed many before. But that was all years ago though, right? After that accident she had hid herself from all civilization and humanity. It has been years since she last saw a person. That's why she ran when the Akatsuki came. Rei had finally smirked but the shadow hid it and not only that but so did his cloak of red clouds and black. "Your power" he stated,

What about her power? So they needed the strength she possessed? Rei closed his crimson optic and spoke in a calm toneless manor which seemed most Akatsuki members obtained "Are you willing to lend it to the Akatsuki?"

First, the leader of the terrorist organization was going to see if she was going to be willing. But if not then he wouldn't hesitant to force her to join. Yuki was silent looking down to the ground. She wasn't sure… what would be doing? "Are you that weak that you need to obtain my power?" she snapped.

Itachi didn't look too pleased with her snapping at their leader like that. "Girl, you will shut up unless you want to die…"

Itachi's venomous voice made her cringe a bit. But not much, her own voice was like the poison of deadly snake. There was a light flooding inside the cave slightly and she turned her back. Her feminine voice mixed with that haze silently dripped through out the cave, "I work alone."

Rei didn't seem too pleased at all. Kisame snickered a bit causing glares to be on him. He then just grinned now and all eyes peered on her back. Her mind began to jumble around a bit, feeling bits of it wanting to snap. The next moment she just let her cloak rip open taking out the kunai with the explosive tags on them. She jumped back and tossed them. "Get her to calm down!" Rei demanded.

Itachi already knew what to do now. He just needed to fight her once and he knew the style of the way she fought. Coming swiftly up behind her, his hand grabbed her neck and knocked the girl out. Her emerald green eyes widened and she flumped forward Itachi's arm came forward and caught her from falling on to the ground. He kept silent as he looked up, everything was under control. Rei sighed tetchily, "She's going to be hard to work with."

He hadn't anticipated her to snap just so suddenly. Something was seriously wrong with Yuki if she had just snapped so suddenly. Her psyche was really messed up. "What are going to do to her, yeah?" Deidara solicit.

Rei closed his eyes tranquilly, "We'll give her some time to decide. She's more messed up than I had thought."

He's never really seen anyone like this. Then yet not many people are born with special conditions. Rei was at a quandary, what was he going to do? If he forced the girl to help out the Akatsuki, she most likely might turn on them and destroy everyone. "Itachi, you have a new mission."

He furrowed his eyebrows seriously not liking where this was going at all. Deidara just grinned ear to ear at the elder Uchiha because he could sense that he was growing a bit exasperated. "Itachi, you will take Yuki to another place and stick around her. It's obvious to me now that she hasn't been around people in a while."

Itachi was defiantly not pleased with his new mission. The blonde associate of the Akatsuki laughed. "Ha! You have to baby-sit a psychotic brat, un!"

Itachi sent an ominous glare to Deidara and he automatically backed down. Afraid of the Uchiha's gaze and afraid if he would wallop or not, "Later on I'll seen Kisame along with Deidara."

Kisame flaccid his shoulders and closed his eyes. Ever since Sasori had died, the clay master thought it would be fun to pick on the shark hybrid instead. Now he was going to have to hang around him and Itachi. Two brooding figures and a one not brooding at all, Itachi then threw the girl over his shoulders; I didn't expect this to be so bothersome, Itachi thought annoyed.

His back turned and he kept that expressionless look upon his face. He buttoned the collar of his cloak then tossing Yuki over his shoulder. Uchiha Itachi held a very sour expression upon his face. His sharingan eyes of crimson peered behind him sending an unknown scowl to the leader, Rei. Deidara grinned broadly, "Have fun, yeah."

Despite the fact that the blonde Akatsuki member was making fun if Itachi's current state, the elder Uchiha just kept silent. He walked out giving everybody, not the cold shoulder, but the artic shoulder. How did he end up doing this? He was very discontented about his position right now. He glanced to the girl; she seemed rather peaceful in her state of sleep…

------

In the corner of the dark room she sat. Her emerald eyes wide with fear and a crazed look in them. Her knees up and holding it close to her chest, a big sadistic grin was upon her countenance. Her body was shaking like an earthquake. Yuki took in deep breaths making this hallow breathing sound. A voice was now ringing inside her head, repeating… '_Kill them... kill them all.'_

The voice was haunting and it marked the nightmares that the girl had each night. The full moon's light was illuminating inside the room making a small light flood into the dark room. Yuki tried to ignore the voice the best she could. But it still dripped deadly malice into her mind, _'Kill them all... ALL OF THEM!'_

It was rather hard to ignore that voice inside her mind. She shook her head as tears started to well up in her eyes as the salty substance started to stream down her pale cheeks. "No... No..."

Before she could finished off her sentence to herself that poison voice yelled inside of her mind, _'THEY DESERVE IT! Look what they have done to you! Look at where you are thanks to those soiled people!'_

Her emerald oculus then scanned the murky room. It was cold and dismal inside of it. The ice chilling air sent chills down her vertebrae. She shook a bit more as her eyes scanned the area once more. There was no light but what the moon have given off. Yuki has never like to sun so the curtains were often closed. _'Do you see now? They locked you up in here because you are different... you're not like them. You need to... kill..."_

The voice ricochets in her mind. The voice seemed to be hallow as it did echo in her head. She slowly stood up, fingers lingering on the cold stone floor for a moment. Her green hair had covered her face. Lighting lifting her head up her let the hair brush along the sides. Showing her mouth, that eerie grin came across her face. Doing a zombie walk to the door, her long elegant fingers came calmly up to the door knob. She snapped her head down as her eyes held that distraught look. Her fist slammed into the steel door and it was sent soaring off its hinges. "She's got out! Restrain her!" one shouted frenetically.

As they came charging towards her, he thrust the sword forward to pierce in her stomach. But her hand caught it. The blood had dripped down making a splattering hum. Using her other hand she put chakra into her hand and sent it to the guy's face. His facade was now discharged into pieces. She chuckled a bit licking the blood off her hands. She smoothly jerked the sword from her stomach. The red substance poured down the fortify blade. She swiped the sword as the blood splattered on to the walls. Charging down the hallways people came and tried to attack her all at once. But, it didn't appear to work. She sliced and diced through each and every one of them. Yuki laughed cold-bloodedly, the pure night turned into a night of blood shed. Slaughter... the ending of the village that once was. Her hands... were now stained with crimson liquid. Falling pale in the puddle of blood, what had she done?

------

The girl shot up once more, to see she was not in the dark cavern but... a room? Where was the Uchiha? She couldn't see him. He wasn't in the room. Did he leave her here? Most likely not, Rei needed her too much to just have Itachi let her go. Peeling the blankets off, her feet touched the cold tile floor. It sent chills up her spine. Yuki walked to the door and opened it. She kept silent wandering down the halls. She heard sipping sounds from the kitchen. She walked into it, to see the glare of the eyes of haunting crimson on her. For a moment, she froze.

Itachi was drinking some sake as he sat in the chair. His oculus closed serenely, and then he heard foot steps. Tap, tap, tap was sent through the hallways the sound vibrations bouncing off the walls. He saw the black cloaked form of the girl with dark forest green locks. Just sending a glare to her, he silently went back to sipping his sake. The girl slowly approached the kitchen. She was unvoiced as well. She stepped beside Itachi and asked in that feminine muddled voice of hers. "Where did you take me?"

The way she had said it was in a rude tone. But Itachi had tried his best to not to get irritated but Yuki. He took in a deep silent, breath. "I have brought you to a manor."

He infrequently talked at all. He wouldn't have replied to her question, but he knew she wasn't going to go away unless the query was answer. She nodded her head quietly and decided to get something to eat. She was a bit hungry actually. When in a composed situation of mind she seemed to be pretty civil. She actually ended just getting some rice. She sat down in silence and began to calmly consume her food. Itachi took another sip of his alcoholic drink; one crimson eye peered at her. First glance she doesn't seem to be mental, Itachi thought.

Seeing her calm Yuki didn't seem to be mental at all. She looked to Itachi and caught the lone eye staring at her with the menacing look, that impassive face of his. Of course she hadn't expected him to look at her in awe, but he was staring. "What" she questioned lowly.

"..." Uchiha Itachi was silent not bothering answering her question.

She furrowed her eyebrows and just gave him this look on her face. Putting down her bowl by slamming it on the ground, the glass shattered. The metallic red substance then poured down her fingers as the glass had cut her fingers. There was just another random moment with her. Having a sudden outburst like that was normal. Itachi just muttered in a cold tone, "Don't do that again."

She just turned her head to the side and stood up knocking the wooden chair over. Seeing Itachi right in front of her was making her mind jumble to all sorts of places. She plodded down the hallway, knocking vases over. They made the loud crashing noises, the sounds of picture frames falling off the wall. Uchiha Itachi just ignored it the best he could. He then heard the door slam. Really, what the hell was her problem?

Out of all the missions the Uchiha had, this one had to be the most difficult one. He heard screaming and the punches of walls. He stood up adroitly and marched his way down the hall way. He slammed open the door and saw her flopped on the bed... crying. Wait... she was crying? He just growled slightly, shook his head and walked away.

Tears spilling down like rapid rivers from her eyes, her just stared forlornly to the wall at first. But then her glare grew angry. She was incensed at the people who treated her differently because she wasn't like them. Was that another reason why she hid away from humanity?

Itachi now stood in the kitchen just looking to the colorless room. He held that inexpressive look on his face. His hands calmly at the sides, thinking of the crying girl, oh how he loathed it when people cried, it made them weak. Or was that just the reason he wanted everyone to think? There was another clobber and then it went silent. He slowly walked to the room where the girl was in. Looking in, he saw a fist in the wall with a hole in it and the girls head was slumped.

Yuki had grown even more infuriated causing her to punch the wall. The blood boiling inside her and rushing to her head made her pass out in that position. Itachi exhaled in aggravation. Walking into the room he pulled out the girls hand and let her slump to the bed like that. Each moment he began to abhorrence this mission more and more. It wasn't even considered a mission... It was more like baby sitting. Watching over some psychotic brat as Deidara would most likely say. Well, soon Deidara and Kisame will be with him. Uchiha Itachi wouldn't have to suffer this baby sitting mission alone. Taking on last fleeting glance to the girl with his sharingan eyes, he turned around and walked out. She just needed to rest a bit more.

* * *

An: Hey there I finally updates this story. The long awaited chapter, yes? Sorry if it takes me long to type these out. I'm... awful busya lot of the times. But here it is! I'll try my best to update more often. I really hope you like this chapter. I planned to make it longer but I couldn't seem to drag it out any longer. Ok, anyway see ya!

Kamiya


	4. Diseased

The luminosity from the sun was beaming through the leaves of the trees. There stood two Akatsuki members staring at each other with their crimson eyes. The birds twittered as they flew by. Apprehension was in the air, and it was soundless for a moment. The leader finally cleared his throat, "Itachi-san, glad you could make it."

Itachi stayed silent as he stared to his leader. Both crimson oculus trained on each other. Rei had expected silent from the elder Uchiha. Itachi's eyes closed a bit and opened the narrowed gaze as if saying the leader needs to hurry up and not waste his time. Rei simply smirked and spoke, "Itachi-san, I have another request for you."

Itachi's eyes narrowed a bit more glaring at Rei. What would Rei want of Itachi that it was so significant to meet in person? Roughly anyway, Rei constantly was concealed amongst the shadows. The leader fixed his collar of the cloak. He cleared his throat once more. "Itachi-san, it's about... our guest." Rei strut.

More tension had built up in the atmosphere as Rei mentioned Kin Yuki. I seemed to ensue to Itachi every time someone brought up the girl with dark forest green locks. The clouds started to exceed by over the sun as the light stopped illuminating down to the reimbursement. Itachi stood in one side of the thicket of trees, while Rei was opposite from Uchiha Itachi. Itachi vaguely frowned at the thought of what his leader would want. He kept silent and furrowed his eyebrows, a face of discontentment, "Heh... you don't look pleased, Itachi-san." Rei said amused.

Itachi slightly growled as Rei would not continue. "Just get the hell on with it…" Itachi finally spoke.

His voice was low and precarious. The leader had simple chuckled as his eyes crimson eyes closed. A nod of his head and Itachi calmed down a bit. The Uchiha's annoyance was building up but soon he started to boil down. But what he was about to listen to was only going to make him distress again. Rei said, "I want you to interact with the girl, Itachi-san."

At first Itachi thought he heard wrong. But no, he did hear appropriately. He was supposed to interact with the girl? Rei was expecting excessively from the elder Uchiha! He gritted his teeth as his bangs now curtained his eyes. For the most part he was calm but he was holding back the anger. He took in a deep breath and stared critically at Rei, "You can't expect me to do that, Rei-sama."

Beneath the collar of Rei's red clouded and black main color cloak, he simpered. "Of course I do, Itachi-san. This is an order and you always follow through instructions. I figured Yuki hasn't been around humanity much since she was twelve. Maybe if she gets use to your incidence a bit and I send Deidara and Kisame over... she will be willing to collaborate with Akatsuki."

The birds let out their chips again as the sun started to spill into the clearance once more. A gentle howl of the wind started as it took Itachi's hair. The leaves began to make its crackle sound, the breeze started to get rougher. The puffs of water vapor covered the sun; it was beginning to grow dismal. The air smelt of fresh precipitation, it was going to rain. No matter how hard this was to accept. Rei said this was an order. Itachi had to follow out through orders. "I understand Rei-sama…" Itachi muttered.

Sitting within the kitchen of the manor, Itachi's crimson eyes could not forestall from the colorless walls. Until he looked out to the window, the sky was dark with rain clouds. Slowly but surely the rain started to fall. The drops of water were light as they hit the window. It would fall down causing water streaks on the glass. A furious yowl of the wind caused the branches to bend. The ghosts like howls were outside, as if calling to nature. Itachi was in a state of stillness as if he had gone speechless. A reallocate could be heard from the hallway. Crimson optic went from the porthole to the vestibule. Hiding behind the wall was Kin Yuki. Seeing her, Itachi went back to staring outside the window in all his silence.

The girl had awoken to hear nothing. It was just so soundless, something she heard all the time. She stared to the sallow walls of manor room she had fallen asleep in. She looked around, looking to the damaged she caused. The glass of the window had been fractured. It had spread out like a spider web. Here oculus had shifted to the wall she punches. Paint was peeling off the edges where it was still slightly intact. Shavings had fallen to the ground. Frames had fallen to the ground and shattered, a total mess the room was. "I did this…" she whispered.

Shifting in the bed a bit, her feet touched the ground. She figured that Itachi might be in the kitchen once more. Though, at first Yuki wasn't too confident if she should go out there or not. This had been the first moment in three or four years since she's been around one individual. Not to mention the Uchiha Itachi was an impassive bastard. Her eyes closed a bit and walked out the room. Her feet made supple patter sounds as she advanced into the kitchen. The table sat more off to the side. It was a long rectangle table made of cherry oak, a thin red strip of table cloth went down the middle. A candle stood tall and proud at the center of it all, Yuki sat down to the seat across from Itachi's. Her dainty, pale hands were folded neatly into her lap, "Sorry..." she whispered finally.

The elder Uchiha had kept in his taciturn like state. Those evocative sharingan eyes never left the window. He dared not to look at the girl. The reason why, well... just the fact it reminded him to follow out through orders. His fingers were enlaced with each other as his chin rested on top of his hands. He continuously stared out the windowpane. Where the rain fell down with all it's peaceful, yet gloomy glory.

Not hearing the Uchiha speak back to her. Yuki thought he was ignoring her. She wasn't quite used to be around someone as silent and brooding like Uchiha Itachi. For the matter, it probably wouldn't have made a difference if it was the clay master here instead of Itachi. She cleared her throat, that guttural feminine voice spoke louder, "I said I was so-"

Itachi's gaze had shot at the girl. It caused her to settle down seeing him glare at her like that. Her head lowered a bit, causing her tresses to slide down to cover that pastel features of hers. Itachi exhaled the air he had been holding for a moment. He had to start speaking to the girl or else he wouldn't be following Rei's demands. He just kept telling himself over and over, that Rei demanded this and he must do it or else he would displease his leader. "Yuki..." His calm voice finally spoke.

Her ears slightly perked hearing the Uchiha say her name in such a calm manor. Her head slightly lifted up slightly and she replied, "Yes...?"

Itachi was kept mute for a moment longer. He could speak to the girl, but Rei never said having eye contact with her was part of the arrangement. As he would talk to her, he would continue to stare out to the rain that fell down. What could he question her about her? What should he ask her? He had to be vigilant with his words. What if she took things offensive and she would snap? "Your condition... explain it to me."

Or perhaps this could work out better. Yuki could do all the talking. Itachi could keep his silent behavior as she would talk to him. The girl cleared her throat. This was a rather serious topic. But maybe it's another thing she should suspect of Itachi, that he was a serious guy. "My condition," Yuki repeated.

For a moment he had looked over to Yuki, his face looking like he was saying, did I stutter? She could imagine him saying it in a rude way, so Yuki went on. "What about it?" She inquired.

The elder Uchiha kept silent. He would have to glimpse at the girl, giving her slight face expressions and she nodded her head slightly. Though his face was nothing but an inexpressive look, she could tell what he wanted to say by looking into his crimson eyes of sharingan. Outside the rain was finally calming down into a temperate drizzle. "It's actually a disease..." Yuki stated, "I was born with it though. But it wasn't as bad as it was as I grew older." Yuki had seemed to sadden somewhat.

Yuki wasn't as uncivilized as most had talked about. She seemed pretty collectively right now. But her face was articulated as miserable and lonesome. As if she was crying for help on the inside. "It got worse when I was five. People thought I was dangerous, so they just started to not include me anymore."

Soon everyone had rejected her existence. No one thought she was there. Yuki was desperate for attention. She'd do anything to get the attention she so dreadfully sought. The voice inside her head had told her to eradicate an animal for attention. It worked, but it wasn't the consideration she wanted. "Soon, I just started doing things more and more. To the point people had mistaken me for a mad person." Yuki confirmed.

Her hand to her mouth, as her subterranean emerald eyes stared to the table. Itachi had slightly looked at her. Just when he thought he regretted everything he did and no one could compare to the heavy culpability in his heart, Yuki comes along. He figured that she had much more guilt than him. He kept silent, staring back to the window. "Itachi…" she spoke softly.

"…" He was soundless, though he did hear her.

She then grew slightly solemn, thinking he was ignoring her. Yuki did not appreciate it when people disregarded her. That was another thing that had caused her to snap and just go out of control. None the less, Yuki tried her best to keep calm. She had her nails raking the fleshy tissue of her hand, wanting to feel the metallic blood on her finger tips. "Why did you want know?" She inquired.

Those sharingan eyes closed in slight aggravation. She wasn't like the others who left him alone after they didn't have their question answered the first instant. Yuki was not going to leave him alone unless it was answered. He stood up and he abruptly pushed the chair in. "Orders..." he merely said.

Yuki sighed a bit. She nodded her head and watched as the Uchiha walked out the doorway. The rain seemed to still be falling down on to the earth. The wind was no longer, just a gentle drizzle pouring down. After a moment or two, Yuki stood up. Her pale hand came up and flipped back some of that dark forest green hair. Taking steps back into the manor's hallways, she started walking to the lavatory. Shutting the door, the lights came down and replicated off the glass. The water started to scuttle as she had turned the spigot on. Yuki's hands streaked the water on her countenance. She stared down at the water cupped into her hands. Orders... his noxious voice rang in her thoughts.

She had no unambiguous reason why she was here, besides that the Akatsuki wanted her. It wasn't as if they needed her liked an inevitability. She opened the bathroom door and walked out. Sneaking down the hallways, the girl had to make sure Itachi wasn't within the manor fortifications. Gulping down the saliva that gathered up in her mouth, the coast was clear. Taking a quick fleeting look at the window, she saw Itachi standing there staring to the tree he stood in backyard. He seemed occupied enough. Yuki knew it was safe to go out through the front. Going out the frontage entrance, she walked out of the mansion. Taking one last glance, she began to walk away.

The elder Uchiha was standing in the floral adjacent of the backyard. The willow trees and flowed into the gently breeze that came back. All of a sudden his bangs moved a bit as the covered his face, he glanced to the manor. Something wasn't right. It seemed like the rain was going to continue to fall, it was beginning to pour harder. The slightly wet Uchiha had walked into the mansion. There was a loud detonation of thunder and a flicker of lightening as he came inside. He knew Yuki wasn't within these walls. Those sharingan eyes narrowed. Rei would kill him of the girl got away. "..." He was soundless as he walked out in the front.

That stupid wench, thinking she could leave without him knowing it right away. He slightly shook his head in disappointment. Was the girl miscalculating him? It was never wise to underestimate the elder Uchiha. Really, who would be as stupid to not notice right away, that she just left? Jumping up into the tree, Itachi's figure blipped along as he jumped branch to branch. Those feminine eye lashes slightly touched each other was he looked down. Lips pursed together as the Uchiha's face held that inexpressive look. Finally, he spotted her. It didn't take him to long. Jumping down in front of the girl, Yuki had jumped back a bit startled. "..." he glared at her.

Yuki bit her lip. Puncturing the soft tissue of her skin, blood dribbled down her chin. The red liquid began to build up at the end of her facade forming a drop. It then fell down on to the ground. Yuki had seemed to like the crimson substance falling down from her own wounds. Just a moment as her deep emerald oculus stared into those haunting crimson eyes of Sharingan, then his hand roughly grabbed her wrist. She then pulled back in rebellion. "Get away from me!" Yuki snapped.

Itachi's grip was never lost. He jerked her forward as he started to yank her back to the manor in his silence. Her other arm was inside that black cloak of hers. She reached in and pulled it out letting her arm slither out of the sleeve. She went to stab Itachi in the upper limb, but he turned around and knocked it out of her hands with a swipe of his own. He shot an intimidating glare, which could freeze a flame, at Yuki. "You will stop this juvenile behavior now," Itachi's toneless voice warned.

The girl just struggled more and more from Itachi's vice grip, but it was no avail. Reaching the confinements of the manor, he tossed her into the room with no windows so she couldn't escape. Yuki just glared as Itachi closed the door. This mission really was a pain. Standing outside the door, he could hear Yuki's ear splitting screams.

Inside that windowless room, she began to trash the place while screaming in anger. Her mind had snapped when Itachi found her. But that voice didn't make it worse. That was the lucky part for Uchiha Itachi. She threw the glass table at the wall as it shattered all over the place. Turing tables over and breaking lamps, she collapsed to the floor with tears stream down her eyes in frustration. Those hands balled up into a tight fist as she began to pound on the floor, letting out raspy shouts, but softer than her thunderous screams.

Staring coldly to the door once more, taking that last fleeting look. He walked off back to the kitchen to stare out that window. Pulling out the chair, he sat down and put his chin on top of his hands. The sun was setting, and he calmly stared out that window.

* * *

AN: T.T It was so painful to type this story out. I tried my best to keep Itachi in character. I hope it didn't suck or anything. Please, please leave reviews. If you have any kind advice for me, I'd love to hear it. If I screwed this chapter up in anyway, I'm so sorry! The next one will be much better hopefully!


	5. Enter: The Unknown

A couple days have gone by, still there was no movement of the two Akatsuki group. Which was a good thing… well for the two mysterious figures that stood there in the dark murky shadows, one had electric purple eyes and they shined brightly as the light blipped on to them. A breezy day, taking the leaves and it made that gentle rustling sound. Slowly turning to the side, another sound, there stood a deer that had lifted its head up, ears perked up and big brown eyes glancing around the area cautiously. Another sound from the figure and the deer ran off as its long elegant legs darted off into the deep dark depths of the forest. A scowl came upon the face that was shadowed by the cool dimness. Another gentle howl of the wind, it moved the vegetation of the forest around. Sprits of water landed on the facade of that shadowy figure. There must have been a river near by for water to be landing on that face.

Arms crossed against the chest, standing at an even keeled position, those electric purple optic peering around, sending an ominous look on to the surrounding area of peacefulness, hating the aura of peacefulness. This inexplicable figure enjoyed the thoughts of war and chaos. Brining misery upon innocent people and hearing them scream a blood curdling scream. The silhouette then snapped into a defensive position when someone was passing by. They were trying to be silent but it seemed as if they were purposely making that clamoring. Hand reaching down and withdrawing a kunai, that outline held it up, ready to strike like a poisonous snake at any moment. A couple more rustling sounds from the bushes, another stature came and the one with electric purple oculus eased up a bit. This one had burning deep blue eyes, a smirk came and whitened teeth showed, "Did I scare you?"

The voice was deep, low in tone, so it was obvious this one was a man. The first figure then spoke in their own elegant deep tenor, "No, but you should know by now that it isn't sensible to try and sneak up on me."

His fingers came and swiped away some of his jet black mane that had covered over his left eye. The other one just smirked and placed his hands upon his hips and his head turned slightly. His brown locks flowed into the wind; the length of his hair was down to his waist and pin needle straight. His hand came behind his head and he turned to the clearing and stepped out, looking back at his partner. They wore dark black cloaks that went all the way down past their knee-caps, the collar was slightly big and it covered their neck. Buttons ran all the down the end of the black cloak. Both of the males wore a gray eye shadow along with dark eyeliner going along their eye and made them have cat like stares. Their nails were painted with black; their shinobi sandals had the color black along with the rest of their attire. The one with electric purple eyes spoke, "Are you ready? The future holds disarray, don't you think?" He asked.

Deep blue eyes peering to his partner, elegant digit running along his lips and over the loop of his lip piercing, "I think so" he replied.

Both of the unknown figures started to move out. To what it seems like to be the manor where the Akatsuki male was residing along with his female hostage. What were their plans? Who were they working for exactly?

---

It had all seemed to happen so fast. Spending time with the Uchiha and yet no sign of the other two members that were supposed to be coming to the manor very soon before they headed out to the Akatsuki layer. Walking down the white hall ways, I've been so calm lately… I have yet want thirst for blood… Yuki thought as she just stood in the middle of the hallway.

In fact, none of her problems had seemed to be bugging her at all lately since she had been captured by the organization, Akatsuki. Well, she has had a few moments here and there in front of the eldest Uchiha... but then she had quickly remembered to control such actions. Even though she was mental, Itachi had seemed to be much stronger than she was. Her head slightly turned to the side and noticed the Uchiha walking down the hallway with his prude aura. Yuki had been standing in his way, so when he had reached her he had sent an ill-omened glare to Yuki, causing her to move to the side and look away from him. Then he continued to stride down the foyer without a word. Tomorrow Kisame and Deidara were arriving at the manor, weren't they? After a moment of two with standing there, Yuki trotted down as well to see where the Uchiha was heading at. Once again she had found him brooding in the kitchen. He was sitting on the windowsill, one leg slightly up while the other foot had touched the tile floor of the kitchen, "Itachi-san?" she asked softly.

"..." He was silent as he turned his head around and stared to the girl who had called his name.

It took a moment or two to register on what she had just called him. She said –san and she had never called him that before. He was slightly taken a back by her mannerism, though his facial expression had stayed the same. Yuki still wasn't quite used to not having someone reply to her when she had spoken to them. Often she had struck fear in the hearts of others, causing them to speak when ever she spoke to them, but not Uchiha Itachi. He was different from the others, way different. Taking in a deep breath Yuki said, "Your other two partners are coming tomorrow, right?"

He merely nodded his head, not even bothering to answer her question verbally but with body gestures. Kisame was his actual partner. Deidara was just someone who had happened to help them on capturing this girl and was assigned to keep an eye on her as well along with the Uchiha and the shark hybrid. There was just an awkward silence. Itachi still sensed the girl there in the kitchen with him. He even heard her sitting down on the chair and moving around a bit, hearing the legs screech on the kitchen floor. Why is she staying in the kitchen? Itachi thought and he raised his eyebrow lightly.

He usually kept more judgments to himself than he spoke personally to anyone. Often the other members of the Akatsuki would understand what he wanted just from an intimidating glance from his deep, crimson, sharingan eyes. It made him wonder why she seemed to be warming up to him faster than he would think. Maybe because the eldest Uchiha survivor struck fear into her and she would listen. Itachi had been looking out from the corner of his eye to stare at Yuki. He wasn't staring at her in awe, no. He was just staring and kept thinking on why she was acting this way. Not to mention she was silent around him. Is she going to be this way when Kisame and Deidara come? He wondered.

It was going to be a bit interesting when the two came along. Would she become once again out of control? Well, time could only tell on what was going to happen when those two came to the manor. Yuki's eyes glanced up and stared at the brooding Uchiha. She had seen him staring at her and she furrowed her eyebrows lightly as she stared at Itachi. She was about to snap and say what was he looking at, but soon enough he turned his head and he had looked the other way. Apparently he had caught her staring at him and not wanting the girl to complain, less have Itachi get agitated, he turned his head to look back out the window. Yuki then stood up from the chair and she had wanted to approach Itachi, but instead she went to the door and put her hand on it. Itachi then took a glance at her, and narrowed his eyes. Yuki gritted her teeth and she spoke, "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to run away." She whispered softly.

She's learned her lesson the first time around. It wasn't too wise to anger and or upset the Uchiha. Itachi just sent her another glare, keeping rather soundless and stared out the pane. When Yuki had taken a step outside, she felt an impulsive rush of cool air hit her pale ghost like skin. A chill went down her vertebrae and the girl shook her head. The wind taking her dark forest green looks, emerald eyes peering to the sky, the once sunny morning was no longer here. The sky had turned dismal and that chilly breeze was harsher than previously this morning. It seemed that rain was going to be cast down upon them. For some reason, this was some sort of omen that Yuki wasn't getting. She glanced back at the window to see the Uchiha's form blurred out because of the stained glass window. I wonder if Itachi senses something… she thought.

Or maybe it was just her and her imagination. Yeah, that had to be it. Sitting down in the grass, having one leg come up and the other stretched out across the blades of lushes green grass. Her hands came down and let her elegant hand run through the grass. A dazed look was upon her face. She was still a bit peculiar about that feeling she had gotten. Moving her hands down so she was resting on her elbows, she completely lied on her back and just sort of dozed off.

From inside the manor the Uchiha was watching the girl move about outside. Despite the fact she had tried to be around him more. His malignant silence usually caused her to go outside or retreat back to her room. He shifted a bit on the window pane and continued to stare out the window. He could see that the weather was making drastic changes. Was it somehow affecting him as well? Itachi shook his head slightly and turned around completely. He pushed himself off to go walk into the living room. On the right hand side of the living area, was a couch decorated with a light tan color and small flowers of light green. The floor was a tile feeling, the color of the tiled floor was a murky gray. Near the front door was a grandfather clock that had seemed to go off as that minute hand struck the hour. It made its deep musical sound. It had echoed off the walls and carried out throughout the manor.

He walked to the door and stood in front of it for a moment. His had had came out to grab the straw hat and place it upon his head. His facade covered and showed by the hat he opened the door to feel the wind rush through his dark mane of hair. Closing the door behind him, he took a step forward. He was on the wooden porch and he walked down the steps. Looking back at the manor, on the porch was a simple bench. He thought of Yuki for a moment, "She'll be fine..."

It wasn't like he was worried for her. He was just concerned that she would try to run away or something or someone came and attacked them. No, Yuki knew how to take care of herself. Besides, it wouldn't take him too long and by the time she woke up he should be back and everything will be okay. He closed his eyes and walked down the cobblestone path. Deep sharingan eyes peering to the side and he thought he sensed a chakra source. His eyes narrowed into that portentous glare as he passed by. I heard something, someone is there or it might be an animal. The Uchiha thought.

Either way, he would have to make sure his time in the market would be fast. The front that was coming in would last a couple days; he and Yuki would need some food if they were to survive the short days they would be spending there.

With the wind about, it was hard to keep that straw hat on his head. So his right hand came up and clamped down on it so it wouldn't fly off into the current of air. Chills had been going down his vertebrae, the small bumps forming on to his arm when the breeze would batter his face. He advanced towards the market center, it was cold and empty like a ghost town. Not many people were about but all the stores were still open. It would be quick and fast to get the necessities and nothing else.

-----

That sun that was shining brightly this morning was no longer. That sky that was darkening only got gloomier. The chilling wind only sent more shivers down the spines of people who were standing outside. Just the sort of weather that could foreshadow a disastrous event, a thunder was roaring in the sky threatening an up coming rain storm. Little flashes of lightening blinked in the gray clouds. Not many birds flew in the sky, for it was getting too windy for them to soar. They would have been blown back in the brawny wind.

Drawing closer and closer, the two brooding figures were making it closer to the manor. They had to hide themselves as they saw the Uchiha had been walking down the path. Which in a way was a good thing for these two sinister forms, the one with those electric purple oculus had peered to his partner, finger nails scratching at the rough jagged tree bark. He laughed a little bit and spoke, "It looks like our friend is leaving the girl unaccompanied." His voice had hissed at the last part of his sentence.

The one with blue eyes nodded his head in complete silence. Turning his head as the white manor was in view. They had to be careful; Itachi probably had heard them shift into a hiding place. If they were caught now, well all of their plans would go down the drain. Itachi could have probably ended them there if they were caught. He closed his eyes for a moment and just watched the Uchiha walk back. That Akatsuki cloak of black and red clouds disappeared. "Close" The deep blue eyed man spoke, "Once we take out the girl, do we wait for the Uchiha come back to take him down," He asked.

Deep purple electric eyes peering to him and looked down to his hand, he had opened and closed his hand. Staring at the palm and then getting a view of that evenly spread black nail polish, "No, we won't take her down just yet. If we play our cards right when we approach her, we can wound her severely and once the Uchiha comes home, he can kill her right in front of him."

A smile spreading across a white painted features and his own hands coming up to pin back some dark lushes brown locks, "Good idea, but do you think he would really care if we harmed her?"

Probably not in a friend type of caring for her death, but the fact she wouldn't have been brought safely to the Akatsuki hideout, he would be upset about her death. Then yet, he wouldn't live long enough to feel the wrath of the Akatsuki leader because he had failed at his mission. Or, that's what the two figures were planning on happening anyway. The one with the jet black hair now snapped, "Come on, we wasted a sufficient amount time here already. We need to get a move on before the Uchiha returns."

Nodding his head for a moment, the purple and blue eyes that were revealed in the dark murky shadows turned around and started heading out towards the manor.

* * *

AN: Sorry this one too forever to type out. I guess since I didn't get too many reviews for the last chapter it made me a lil... eh... you know what I mean? Anyway I hope this was a good chapter and please review, thank you. 


	6. Rain and Blood

_Cold, dark, and damp, she was alone in the bitter world that offered nothing but sadness and sorrow to her. Lips pursed together, there stood a single figure that was in the dark. Nothing illuminated down on her, nothing was there to assure her of a world that would be happiness. Instead she knew the truths of the world. She knew how cruel everyone was… and that voice that rung in her head over and over again. Standing there, she slowly walked through the dark void. Emerald eyes couldn't see anything; nothing was visible to her eye. Then something wet came on to her foot, and she looked down to the ground. It was… a pool of water, a lake. The girl knelt down on to her knees and digits lightly ran over the stream. A gasp came from her mouth and the girl fell back. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, "Why…" her voice spoke softly._

_It echoed through out the annulled. On her hands and knees, she peered over and she once again stared down to the water. Her hands came to her face and slowly her fingers ran down her very white pastel facade. What she saw in her reflection was not she, it was someone else. Her heart rate began to speed up, and as that reflection seemed to copy her own movements, it spoke to her, "It's been so long…" the one that was her reflection spoke to her. _

_A was of saliva started to build up in her mouth. Her hands started shaking rather violently as the voice spoke in such a taunting tone. It was deep, feminine, and hazy, much like her own voice. Was this really what was on the inside? Such a hideous monster that controlled her mind, her life was this really… who she was? It came back to Yuki like a ton of bricks falling on to her body and crushing the very likes of her. Out of the water, that reflection began to seep out of the water. It molded into another life form. Her skin was just as pale as hers. Her emerald green eyes could see it as that things finger came up closer to her face and slid under her chin. Yuki felt the tickle and the wetness of her index finger under her chin. "What's wrong, why do you look so scared?" Yuki was asked._

_As much as she had loathed acknowledging it, she was frightened. She trembled at the very presence of what was her other side, of what she really was. Yuki had went to open her mouth to speak, but she was at a loss of words. She couldn't speak, why couldn't she speak? Despite this, Yuki knew she had to open her mouth to say something. She scratched at her throat for just a moment, words finally escaping those lips, "I-I… I'm not scared." She lied._

_What was Yuki's other side, laughed at her. Her hand cupping under her chin tightly now, she brought forth Yuki's face, "Don't lie to me child. You are petrified; I am you after all…"_

_No, she didn't want to believe this! Her mind was going crazy at the very thought of such a thing. Yuki remained calm, though she was still unsteady. Yuki had to ask, she couldn't remember, "Who are you… what's… your name…" she whispered softly._

_Never before in her life has she felt so small. It was like she was brought in the corner like a mouse with the big bad cat before her, ready to consume her very being. That's how she felt. That monster laughed an evil laughter, amused by Yuki's question, Then made a fake sad hurtful look on her face, "How depressing Yuki, you already forgot me, you don't remember your own self?" Though this other being did have a name, a creature such as this did have a name, "My precious Yuki, if you truly have forgotten my name, I'll have to remind you."_

_Yuki just sat there with anticipation. Every moment she was stuck with… with this beast, she had felt like she had wanted to rip out her very insides. She had wanted to take the nearest sharp object and tear it through her very soul. Once again, Yuki gulped. "My name, dear child, is Yuuka." _

_Now that one question was out of the way. Yuki wanted to know something else, why did she show her face after all these years. Slowly memories were coming back, painful horrible memories that were slowly flooding back into her mind as she stared at Yuuka's poisoning eyes. Her eyes were not that of a sweet emerald color, they were deep electric ice blue. Her hair was not that beautiful dark forest green hair that Yuki had. Her hair was long, down to the ground and silver. With her pale complexion, she seemed that of an angel, but she wasn't, in Yuki's eyes she was a monster, "What do you want with me…w-why now?" she stuttered a bit._

_It was hard to be scared, but she was. There was something about Yuuka that gave her such ethereal presence, an appalling sensation. Yuki's warm breath could be seen as she breathed into the ice cold atmosphere. Yuuka's narrowed icy blue eyes stared down to that sweet innocent girl, "I'm here to remind you… remind you of who you are. Remind you what's inside of you. I've been watching you getting closer to Itachi… I know how you feel about him. Don't get close to him Yuki, you can't." her voice dripped such a frosty venom, yet it seemed so sweet at the same time. Yuuka's arms wrapped around Yuki and embraced the girl._

_What if Yuki didn't want to be reminded of who she was? What if she just wanted to live the life of a normal person, not having to worrying about snapping? She had said softly to her response, "I don't want to be reminded…" and in the end she had a hissing tone in her accent, "I don't want to be…" Yuuka interrupted her with another chortle, "My dear child, you really think you can run away!?" Yuuka shouted as she leaned over and got right in front of her face, "You can't run away, you are who are no matter how hard you try. Just embrace it, Yuki. As long as I'm apart of you… child, you can't run away..." _

_Pure fear ran through her body, coursing right through her veins. Those words that she couldn't run away ran through her head and she shook at the thought of it. The girl who so desperately didn't want to be the way she was couldn't run away. I can't run away, I can't run away… Yuki thought with wide emerald eyes as tears overflowed and ran down her cheeks. Yuuka felt the fear of the girl, she felt the need of love. Had she really thought Uchiha Itachi could possibly bring her such emotions, "Yuki, your nothing but a tragedy, you never belonged on this world. Only I can provide you attention… only I'm here for you, understand that…"_

_Whether she liked it or not, Yuki was nothing but something gone wrong. Or in other words… she was a mere sin? Or was she someone who needed a remedy? Was there any way for her to be cured? Yuki should just embrace the fact that she was a lost cause, nothing was ever going to save her…Why… that thought ran through her head once more._

…_You can't run away… _

There was a soft wet feeling upon a fragile face. It was wet, what was it? Eyes opening rather wide, Yuki sat up in an instant. Her heart was pounding, racing against her chest. Her pale hand came up and she let her palm rest over bust, feeling the material of the shirt that was under her large black cloak. Her heart rate was rather high, she could feel it pound against her very chest. Sweat was running down her face and she tried her best to catch her breath. The girl gently shook her head and her optic peered to the side. As of now, she felt speechless. She remembered what went on in the dark empty void. Though she tried her best not to think about it, the cool breeze took her hair. It gently flowed and scattered about as it slid across her gentle pale features. Standing up, she put her hands to her knees. Then… she paused. There was something in the air. I feel a chakra network… Yuki thought.

Slowly, she turned around to face the sea of trees that was blocked by bulky bushes clumped together. The grass brushed up against her feet and she could feel the stroke of it prickle her bare toes colored a lighter black color. Then with a harsh howl of the wind, her hair blew back, cloak flapping wildly in the wind. Another droplet of what seemed to be rain fell on her face. The green leaves upon the trees were blowing and being torn of it's steam that was connected to the branch. Sakura pedals began to fly everywhere, along with other small objects as that violent breeze blew. Maybe it's just Itachi hiding… she told herself.

As of now, Yuki was in so much denial. Somehow she didn't want to believe what she had seen. With all these thoughts that were roaring threw her head, she couldn't really feel the chakra networks with much accuracy. Both of her hands balled up into fists, and her palm of her hands began to bleed a little bit. Her ear picked up the waves of sound of the sticky crimson liquid dropped down on to the grass. Yuki than coughed a bit and she leaned herself against the tree for a moment, her hazy voice finally came out, cracking a bit, "Who's there?" she asked dangerously as her eyes narrowed softly.

The two whacked chakra networks she sensed, the statures moving around in the green shrubs. Why wouldn't they show themselves? Her eyes narrowed a little bit more and she turned to the side as if she was about to walk off, but then a whip of air went by her face. Those bright emerald green eyes widened slightly as she saw the blood drip down from her cheek. That elegant index finger came up and wiped the blood away. "Wha…"

Her eyes glanced to the kunai that was stuck on the wall of the manor and her eyes narrowed for a moment. She turned around and saw those two figures come out. Those pearl white teeth gritted tightly and grinded lightly against each other, the two were covered in black. All she saw were two eyes looking at her, one with electric purple eyes and then the other was a deep ocean blue look. One took a step forward and he lifted up his head with a sadistic smirk plastering across ear to ear, "Why hello, Kin Yuki."

His voice sent an eerie sound through her ears. It buzzed like the scratching of the chalk board. Upon her face was a small scratch and the blood slowly dripped down her pale cheek. Her hand came up and she touched her cheek once more wiping away that red crimson liquid that still dripped down, and then glanced from the corner of her eye. Yuki scoffed a bit and she turned around with her eyes thinning into an ominous glare. Something began to nag at her, like a tug in her heart. It's that feeling again, she thought in her mind.

The beating of her heart was going at a fast pace. To the point the heavy heartbeat was pounding against her rip cage. The tip of her fingers began to tingle a little bit. An unexpected bloodlust overflowed her thoughts. Slowly her think lips curved into a smirk, tongue slicking out past the soft tissue and left a wet trail of salvia, "What an unexpected visit."

For some reason, it was really like she had changed. With the Uchiha, and all the time she had spent with him. That longing lust for blood was cast aside. Her voice hadn't really been in the same hazy tone that it used to be. It had actually grown soft, a bit butterfly like. Now, it just seemed all of that washed away with the coming of these two people, Yuki took a step forward, "Well, well, look what we got here." She stated.

Those hands went to her lips and she leaned more weight to one side of her body than another side. Finally, the one with electric purple eyes took his own advance towards Yuki, "May I ask why you intruding my territory?"

Her emerald green eyes shone out bright, highlighting with a bright green color. That old look came back into her eyes. Snow white hand came out and pricked the kunai from the wall, licking off her blood from the steel blade. The wind gave a harsh breeze; the rain was falling upon the tree statures that stood there. They hadn't spoken a word to her yet. It agitated Yuki to a great degree when her questions weren't answered, "Well!?" her voice shrieked out.

Then the girl tossed the kunai, dark forest green locks flowed in the wind and scattered about her face. He laughed slightly, deep voice coming out and hand whipping up as he caught the kunai within his index finger and his middle finger, "Kin Yuki, we're here for you and Uchiha Itachi, orders from the boss to annihilate you two," A malevolence plan against the Akatsuki.

That's what brought these two presences here before Yuki. A playful smirk came across her face. Her voice changed to a taunting tone, that of a peculiar little adolescent, "Oh so you came to play with me?"

Yuki's lower lip came out, and the one with deep ocean blue eyes stared over at Yuki with an incredulous think eyebrow arched, "Is she for real, Ryuu?"

A small heckle scratched from Ryuu's throat, as he ran his hand through his jet black hair and stared to the sky. Feeling the calming rain fall down upon his face, "To put in terms, Yuudai, Kin Yuki is special in so many ways that words can't quite explain it, she's just a bit on the unstable side one could say."

Yuudai looked to his partner; merely nodded his head for a moment and his eyes glanced back over towards the girl who stood there with a crazed look written across her face. Kin Yuki's think lips then went back down to a frown, and she started walking towards to two, "I'll make you regret for coming close to me and threatening me. I don't take threats to heart."

Ryuu laughed with much amusement towards the girl and rolled his head over to the side as it let out a crackling sound, "A threat, who ever said it was a threat?" He certainly never said it was.

Yuudai was almost ready to help and join in the fight so they could take down this girl. Ryuu's hand came up in front of his form and looked at the corner of his eyes. Those electric purple ones staring deeply at Yuudai's ocean blue optic, "Stay back for now. I can take care of her no problem."

Yuki had clearly heard his words. Anger boiled up inside of her and she took another step forward, clenching her fists up tightly. Her nails digging into the skin of her hand to the point blood began to drip down between her fingers and on to the green grass, "Don't underestimate your opponent, unless you really are looking for a death wish!"

Pure vehemence was flowing through Yuki's veins as she charged forward, slipping a kunai from her pouch and right into the palm of her hand. The girl jumped up, baring the blade over head and slammed it down on to his shoulder. Her eyes closed, she expected to feel a pool of blood splatter upon her face. Though, she realized she just felt a trickle of it. Those green eyes opened up to stare at the slightly pierced shoulder. Ryuu's hand clenched securely around her wrist, to the point she could feel the circulation being cut off. In much panic she began to pull back from his grip. Ryuu then took her blade and stabbed it into her own shoulder. A painful scream came about and she stumbled back on to the ground, "Nnn…"

Her hand was right over the bleeding shoulder. Yuki's white hand was now covered in red liquid and she gasped for air. Shakily her hand came up and tore the kunai from her shoulder, Ryuu taunted, "Not so high and mighty after all."

With this much blood flowing out, that blood lust only began to build. Though her resentment began to increase as well, seeing as this was her blood from a gash someone else caused her. Slowly, she brought herself up from her knees, tossing her head back to push back the wet hair that was clinging to her face, "Tch, shut the hell up. You just got lucky that's all."

Her eyes were narrowed into an ill-omened glare. She had removed her hand from her shoulder, fist balled up tightly. Once more she ran towards Ryuu, infusing her fist with chakra. Flying forward, she landed a hit on his face, smashing the bones in his cheek when he went flying back several feet and into the trees. There was a cloud of smoke, and it cleared. "Heh got him."

Yuudai had an amused smirk on his face. The girl is not all that bad, he thought in his mind.

Though out loud, he began to laugh at Yuki's pitiable attempts to kill of Ryuu. Yuki had just sent a scowl over to him with her fists clenched tightly together, speaking decisively, "What's your problem!?" she snarled.

Yuudai calmed down form his laughter and he stared to the female who was getting rather defensive and angry. His hand came up and it went to his throat as he rubbed the sore spot upon it, "You must be really dense if you think he's down yet," his elegant index finger pointed over to the area where Ryuu had landed, "Look."

That comment had Yuki's blood boiling. She grinded her teeth together and she stared over to the area. There he was, Ryuu stood up and wiped the blood away that was dripping down from the corner of his mouth. A sadistic smirk came upon his face and his head rolled over to the side as a loud fissure from his neck came. Yuki's emerald eye gave a light twitch as she stared at him, "That was a nice punch you got there." He commented.

Ryuu's words were cutting deep, almost that of the sharpest knife. That irritation inside just kept bubbling, approximately ready to explode. Yuki let out a loud howl into the air and she charged forward, another punch ready to be blown as she grabbed the collar of his cloak and jerked Ryuu forward. Her fist infusing with his face once more, slamming her head on to his forehead, cracking the hitai-ate along his forehead, she had finally swung him around and fiercely tossed him onto the tree. Yuki breathed in and out as she could feel her lungs tightening up at the sudden moving. Her throat burning with much agitation, with the cold rain splattering down, it didn't help her asthma; "Huh…" she puffed out.

Her eyes then glanced over to Yuudai and he smirked, "Heh, it seems like your losing your temper there, eh?" he spoke calmly.

Yuki's mouth gave a light twitch and she clenched her fists tightly, slowly calming down her breathing, regaining it. The girl spit some blood over to the side and she spoke deadly, "Tch... your next." she mumbled lowly.

Yuudai just kept that smirk plastered right across his face and stood at the position of a fighting stance, "We'll see... we're not down yet, Yuki-san."

* * *

I got chapter six up, yay! It took me a while to type this out seeing though as I slowly worked onit in my computer applications class. I hope this wasn't too bad, I think this is my best one yet. So, please I beg of you, send me feedback T.T 


	7. Don't Lose Control

Shopping, no matter where it was done. It was something that was nothing that was liked amongst most men. Shopping was one of those things that were on the back of your mind. Feet dragging you along outside to face the reality of those imbeciles pushing and bumping others in the street. It was rather rude, and rather upsetting for Hitachi. Though it was not his nature to react, but to send his ominous glares about. That seemed to repel the people in the market place away. Anything to keep them from bumping into him.

One hand was holding the plastic bag. It made crinkling noises as the Uchiha paced about the market area. He held the bag up to check to see what he had. So far he had fruit, bread, and some vegetables. All that needed to be obtained as a carton of milk. Standing at a good height, he peered about the sea of people to look for a stand or a store that sold milk.

The hums of people talking, laughing, and screaming could be heard. All the babble about was causing Itachi's mind to pound. Always used to the solitude of his own room or the silence between him and Yuki.

His thought switched to Yuki for a moment. It's been a good hour or two since he's left the manor. The elder Uchiha brother knew that Yuki wasn't going to leave the manor. But wondered what could possibly be happening there. A slight disturbance caused his thoughts to think of possible intruders that could be there. Just thinking that, it caused him to furrow his eyebrows and those feminine lips to form into a frown. He shook his head from those thoughts and continued his search for a store which sold milk.

It hadn't taken him long to find what he needed. Only a few minutes later he was heading towards the small line. He was behind three or four other people. All seemingly to be buying the same thing, milk. Slightly surprising to see people buying milk. Most civilians bought junk, consisting of sugar and saturated fats. A lot of the stands sold organic fruits and vegetables thought. Nothing had seemed to be processed or sprayed with pesticides. This wasn't even a village that shinobi inhabited.

While Itachi was off in his own thoughts for a moment, he hadn't been paying attention. "Sir," the old man spoke sternly, "Sir!" his voice raised a bit louder.

Itachi heard him the second time and snapped out of his trance. He stepped up towards the counter and his hand slipped to his back pocket. For a moment, there was a single glance to the old man. His eyes were slanted as many wrinkles gathered about his bitty eyes. He had a full head of grey hair. Not to mention, he seemed rather tall. Itachi pulled his wallet out, and opened it up. He searched through it for a moment to pick out the right amount of money that needed to be displayed. Culling it out, he placed it on the counter. Before the old man placed the milk in the plastic bag, he had pulled the money into his wrinkled, boney hands. A smile that formed more folds crossed his decrepit looking face and said, "Thank you."

An expressionless look came from Itachi as he stared at him in his silence, "..."

The old man felt intimidated as Itachi grabbed the bag. The eldest Uchiha stepped off and walked away. His calming pace going down the cobblestone path of the small peaceful village. His sharingan eyes fixed on the path ahead of him. As he looked up, from above the gates a cloud of smoke was rising into the atmosphere. His facial expression dropped a bit. His fingers let lose of the bags. All the food dropping and rolling out of the bags. He made a furious dash towards that explosion.

That's where the manor is, thought Itachi with a serious look.

This meant that someone was there and obviously after Yuki for what ever reason. Itachi hurriedly passed the gates and deep into the sea of trees.

---

A deep, ominous stare at the man that stood before her. Yuki had been blown away and into the wall of the manor. A trickle of the crimson liquid flowed down the side of her mouth. "Tch..." and she spat to the side, blood coming with the salvia.

With those ocean blue eyes holding this high and mighty look. Yuudai was a special man. He was different from most shinobi. Other shinobi tended to get agitated and frisky during a battle. Often they miss judged the battle and that caused failure. Yuudai was a very temperate man. It took a lot to get to him. "I thought you said I was next, Yuki." He mocked the young girl.

"Hmph, you got lucky." She snapped at Yuudai.

Yuki pulled herself from the ground. Strands of her dark forest green hair flopped in front of her pale face. Her chest was rising and falling. The young female was gasping for oxygen. She could feel this heaviness within her lungs, making it hard for her to breathe.

Drip, drip...Yuki's blood plopped on to the green lush grass. Turning it a dark red. Those emerald eyes glanced down to her arm. Blood was seeping down her torn off sleeve of that complete black cloak of hers. As she stared down at it, her teeth went grit. Yuki grinded her teeth together in enmity. Slowly, with her good hand, she began to pull out the kunai that was held within her pouch. "This time..." and her eyebrows furrowed, "I'm going to asphyxiate you!!!"

Yuki went in for a full blown charge. Acrimony filled those glowing emerald oculus of hers. She jumped into the air and stabbed the kunai blade in his stomach. She twisted it to the side. Yuudai heaved causing blood to spill from his mouth and on to Yuki. A sadistic grin spread across her face then. She breathed in and out until his fist met with her gut. She stumbled back holding her stomach. Her head was weakly held up. She watched as Yuudai took the handle of the blade and pulled it out of him. The scarlet blood poured down on to the grass.

In an instant, Yuki's eyes suddenly widened in pain. "Uh..." and she held tighter on to her stomach.

The young girl collapsed to the ground, hunching over in agony. Her body began to tremble within the pain that shot through her body. It spread rapidly and she cried out in pain, "Wha-"

Yuki didn't have time to finish her sentence. She had slapped her hand over her mouth and began to cough. She could see her own blood seeping through her digits. Worry began to fill her emotions. How come I can't hold myself against these two...are they that...powerful... she thought in her mind.

She pulled herself from the ground wiping the blood away. "What the hell did you do to me..." she muttered harshly.

Yuudai let that smirk plaster across his face. He leaned to the side, adding more weight on his left leg. "You see Yuki, my taijutsu techniques are special. Not only do they affect you externally, they also affect you internally. With my strength I can affect the area I hit on the outside, plus with a chakra burst that will affect you on the inside. Really, it's quite simple."

Yuki's right eye twitched slightly from the pain that was going through out her body, "Neat...trick you have there then, huh?" Yuki's voice held this bitterness to it.

Yuudai started to make his way towards her. Rolling his neck to the side as it had let out this sickly popping noise. Yuki began to back up; she couldn't do this on her own. She knew it. "Where's...Itachi..." she whispered to herself as she glanced to the side.

"Yuudai..." a voice spoke.

Though, it wasn't the tone Yuki was hoping for. It was Ryuu; he had finally pulled himself from the rubble. "It seems I could count on you yet again."

His ocean blue sights caught over Ryuu's direction. The man was dusting himself off. Bits of leaves were attached random places upon his stature. Ryuu's fingers plucked some of the leaves away from his hair. "Only because you don't obtain the skill of tranquility during a battle. You get heated up with the passion of battle and destruction, not to mention you tend to let your ego run high, that... often you can misjudge your opponent." Yuudai spoke calmly towards Ryuu.

Ryuu rolled his shoulders back, "Hmph, real cute, Yuudai. And to think that I was the one who told you not to judge this little girl."

Yuki frown at the two who now stood right in front of her. She was backed up into the tree. These two had the look of a hungry beast in their eyes. Yuki here was just like the prey. Backed up into a dead end, eyes wide with fear of death. This is it, I'm gonna die...I-I...Yuki was thinking with a panic.

Something was boiling inside of her. She was aware of it, but she was trying her best to hold this monster back. Come on...e-end it now. I rather die than have- Her thoughts were interrupted by shuriken flying over and whisping by the two.

Ryuu's skin split open on his cheek, and Yuudai lost a few strands of hair. The three glanced over to see the man with intense scarlet eyes. His dark locks blew in the gusty wind. The Akatsuki cloak of black and decorated of red clouds flapped in the wind. The once down pour was into a calmer rain. "What are you doing here...?" Inquired the elder Uchiha with his monotone voice.

Ryuu walked closer to the dangerous Uchiha. He seemed very embittered, "Well, well, well, look who decides to show up neh, Uchiha Itachi?"

Itachi frowned; the man did not answer his question. He ignored it, and he mocked the elder Uchiha survivor. "I ask you, what are you doing here? Answer me, now." And his eyes narrowed into that malefic gaze.

Ryuu pulled his head up and smirked a bit, "I thought that was obvious. Then again, maybe the Uchiha Itachi isn't the genius he claims to be."

There was one thing when someone came around Itachi's territory and attacked someone who was to be potential Akatsuki material. But now this unknown person was here taunting him, and doubting his genius like abilities. It was not only Itachi who had felt this, but many of the Uchiha had felt this way. The clan, the Uchiha clan, was great and none could compare to their power. Everyone was under them, and no where near their level. "Get out." Itachi said strictly.

Uchiha Itachi wasn't the one who enjoyed fighting, or slaughtering people meaninglessly. So far, there was no point in doing so. Itachi would only strike if this man dare did so. "Awe, I'm afraid we can't." Ryuu said, smirking cockily and placing his head over to the side.

He ran his hand right through his hair. Every single strand fell back into place, his electric purple eyes staring intently towards the Uchiha's deep scarlet sharingan eyes, "Yuudai and I have some business to attend with you two."

Yuudai stepped right beside Ryuu. He kept his amiable expression upon his face. His own tone was as taunting as Ryuu, "But Ryuu, he doesn't look pleased."

From behind the two men, Yuki's deep emerald eyes just stared to the Uchiha's form. She was still in disbelief that he came so soon. She wasn't shocked that he didn't come though. After all, the only reason why he probably came was because the leader of the red dawn would be very upset with him if something happened to her. "Itachi..."

Itachi gazed over at Yuki, "Yuki go inside, now." he demanded of the younger girl.

She was speechless. Itachi wanted her to go inside, but why? "No, I'm not going inside. If you need help then I can..."

Itachi interrupted her with this strict look. The young girl stared down to the ground filled with that sticky crimson liquid. Which most of it that had been split was her own blood? Her lips pursed together and she stepped back, "Yes, Itachi..." her voice was in a gentle whisper.

Yuki retreated back inside the large home. Though she wasn't going to hide in a corner like a baby. She actually felt concerned for this man. So instead she scurried towards the window and peered out. Yuki was half hidden behind the wall. She kept her eyes firmly on the sight that was outside. Her fingers clenched tighter on to the white wall. Feeling the level of the wall, it had a smooth feel to it but it was as well uneven. If he thinks I'm not going to intervene... then he's wrong...Yuki thought.

Itachi hadn't been her favorite person from the beginning. After being with him for a while, he just sort of grew on her. Itachi was also the only people who hadn't been afraid of her, or point a finger at her and call her a freak. So that was different and it was comforting too. She watched the movements from outside, she only wish she knew what they were talking about.

"Give me a detailed answer; I want to know exactly why you're here." Itachi's monotone voice spoke with that icy venom dripping from it.

Ryuu had his hands on the side. Those electric purple eyes glanced to the corner to see the girl peeking out. Then, turned his head. "We're here to leave a little message to Akatsuki." Itachi arched an incredulous eyebrow at this, what sort of message? "You're leader...Rei, he needs to learn his place. He thinks he can hold the world in the palm of his hands? Then he's wrong."

Itachi still gave them this look which was like; I don't care what the hell does this have to do with you attacking Yuki? "Before you speak, Itachi, I haven't finished talking yet. It's rude to speak when someone else is talking," Ryuu smirked and the elder Uchiha scowled, "By slaughtering you and Yuki, it will leave a little message to Rei. Saying that we're coming."

They could sense something stirring from inside of the Uchiha. The anger had been boiling up inside of him. Though as Yuudai studied Itachi's expression, it didn't change. It still held this calming look to it. "Ryuu, watch out." Yuudai spoke.

Right after he said that, Itachi charged towards him. Ryuu didn't see anything. No punching gestures, nothing. All of a sudden the elder Uchiha slashed out that kunai blade. Both Yuudai and Ryuu jumped back to dodge the Uchiha's attack. He had barely nicked their cloaks. He furrowed his eyebrows with slight frustration. Never before has he met someone who could match up to his own abilities. How though... how.

What ever, Itachi wasn't going to let this bother him. He knew a clouded mind only made things worse when fighting the enemy. Ryuu balled up his fists tightly and charged at the Uchiha. Itachi moved swiftly to the side, avoiding Ryuu's attack. Then Ryuu had his elbow jab to the side. Itachi jumped back to dodge that as well. Yuudai had crept up behind the elder Uchiha, he was ready to send a blow into his spine, but within a flash of an eye Itachi was gone. Ryuu smirk at this, "Itachi, you are what you live up for. You alone performed a homicide against your clan. Obtaining the mangekyo sharingan, causing you to make the ultimate sacrifice."

"Tch..." Itachi spat to the side.

He was only getting warmed up. He rolled his neck over to the side and it had let out a soft cracking sound. Itachi had rolled his neck to the other side and snapped loudly as well. Itachi didn't enjoy people talking about what he had done. He knew what he did and he didn't need to be reminded about it. He clenched his fists a little bit and began to form a couple hand seals as he charged towards Ryuu. His lips puckered up and performed the grand fire ball technique. The smoke cleared and Ryuu was gone. Something was amiss in the air, he stared down towards the ground and he jumped back away from the erupting earth. Those deep crimson sharingan eyes bared witness to the chunks of earth that began to sink in. An able force was coming from the hole. He could feel it wanting to suck him right in. Itachi was up in the tree, hands preserved on the branch. He made sure to not let go.

Inside, Yuki was just watching the battle unfold from the safe distance she was at. It didn't feel right to her. Something on the inside was harrowing away. She bit her bottom lip roughly. Her nails scratched at the wall. The white paint began to peel away from her constant, erosive abrading against the wall. Her teeth grinded against each other, "God why the hell am I standing in here. I can't stand... seeing Itachi fight against these two people." she sneered to herself.

Though she understood why Itachi wanted her to stay in here. It was her anger, her personality. If she would have lost it... then for sure something was going to go spurious. Yuki pressed her forehead against the corner of the wall. Her hands formed into a tight balled up fist and she was about ready to blast a whole through the wall, but Yuki calmed herself down. She told herself, all she could do was stand back and watch the battle.

A large blast of mormon rain began to scatter about the grass. Ryuu had caused an explosion to go off. The elder Uchiha took refugee behind a large boulder. Itachi knew better than to lose his cool. But he was very disturbed at the moment. Why was he exerting himself for the very fist time? Ryuu and Yuudai were about leveled with him when it came to fighting. The fact might have been that he didn't know their fighting styles and he needed to take precaution. That was it, that had to be the very reason. Still, it caused that confusion to go about him. Yuudai frowned and noted, "This is taking too long, Ryuu. Don't you think?"

Ryuu was standing from a distance dusting himself off, "Yeah. Something gives me a feeling the Uchiha isn't entirely showing his full potential to us. How boring." he stated rolling his neck to the side as it had let out a sickly pop, "Even Yuki gave me a better fight than him. She at least attempted to kill me. I don't know what's up with Itachi though."

Yuudai's eyebrows furrowed a bit and he let his tongue slick his dry chapped lips. He let his deep ocean blue optic peer towards the boulder Itachi was behind. I know the very reason why he isn't trying to his fullest though he is exerting himself more than he usually does. Itachi is studying our moves with his sharingan. So then he'll be able to turn this battle around…

Those lips of his pursed together. It was too soon for him to learn all of their techniques. "Ryuu... we have to head back now…" Yuudai stated calmly.

Ryuu's electric purple oculus stared over towards his partner. He had this look on his face like he had been kidding or something. "Why?" enquired the young man.

Yuudai ran his digits through his dark silky locks of hair, "For various of reasons I cannot state in front of them."

Itachi slowly stepped out from behind the rock. His serious stare was kept on them, what was going on? Were these cowards retreating? The elder Uchiha was keeping his silence as Ryuu retreated to the side of Yuudai, "Well, I guess are fun is done over here. We must leave now, until next time."

Yuki's eyes widened when she saw this. Her fists balled up tightly and she ran outside, screaming at them. "You cowards," Yuki caught her breath as flew out the door and landed on her knees, "You're running because your petrified what Itachi will do to you!"

"Yuki…" Came the stern salvo of the elder Uchiha brother.

Her emerald eyes caught on over towards Itachi. Her eyebrows fluted with her emotion of being upset. Her fingers dug into the moist soil of the ground. The dirt gathering under her nails. She exhaled trying her best to compose herself. It was so easy for her to lose her temper, to go insane. Her lips thinned out and then her gaze shifted to the ground. Ryuu and Yuudai had already left. Yuki brought herself up from the ground and she began to rub her arm up and down, "I'm sorry…" she whispered, "You're okay, right Itachi?"

Yuki tried her best to show concern for this man. At the moment she had found it difficult to do so. Her stomach began to churn with this uneasiness. It felt like she had done something out of line. Itachi shot a single glance her way, and just by his expression it said that it didn't matter if he was injured or not. He could regard it less.

From up above… something shadowed over Yuki. Her gaze turned to the sky to see what had been above. Though she couldn't quite tell with the fog still looming over the area from the rain that occurred only moments ago. The soft drizzle was still beating down on to the earth. Who was that soaring in the sky… it looked like a enormous bird from the silhouette that Yuki could spot.

* * *

AN: Alright I finally got this chapter done. I think I'm doing a tiny bit better with my updating. The next chapter of this should be out then less than a month. : kay?

Also, please review! thanks:D


	8. Enter: Shark Hybrid and Clay Master

With the large shadow dancing in the evening sky, Yuki squinted her emerald eyes to get a better view of this bird. As it was drawing closer to the earth, she could draw out more of the details from it. It was a clay bird. The silhouette of the bird was soft within that dimming empyrean. The hues of purple, orange and that darkening blue all played in the sky. The stars were giving off this dulcet glow. The moon was starting to glimmer its own luminosity. The small drizzle finally came to a stop. Yuki brought her hand up and wiped away the little bit of rain that was trickling down her soft facade. Itachi frowned then as he stood there with his lenitive stance. His hands were strictly at his side. Weight was distributed evenly as he stood. The blonde clay master took his landing on the ground. Behind him was the shark hybrid with a slightly uneasy look across his face. "It looks like we missed some fun, hmph!" Deidara pouted as his arms crossed his chest.

He had been looking around the area. Blood was spilt upon the lush green grass. The psychotic brat had blood on her face, her hands and it was splashed a little bit on her body. Itachi just had sprinkles of that red sticky liquid about his form. Kisame jumped off the clay bird and enquired softly, "So what the hell happened here? It seems as if a hurricane hit or something."

"Just a battle..." Itachi vaguely replied.

There went Itachi with his inexplicit replies. Oh how that got underneath Deidara's skin. Though of course he was good at disguising his secret hatred for this...Uchiha and the blonde placed his hands upon his hips and stared towards Yuki, "Well, if it isn't the psychotic brat, hmm?"

Yuki strictly turned her head to the side and let her lower lip come out in sort of a pout. It wasn't a childish pout, more of a displeased glower. He walked up towards the forest green haired kunoichi and started inspecting her. Deidara grabbed her hands and he started looking all about her once he lifted her arm up. Yuki swatted his hand away from him, "Don't touch me." she bit.

The young female didn't quite remember this man. She had seen him, fought him, and nothing else. She had no respect for the clay master. Itachi was analyzing this. In his mind he went over on how she reacted towards him in the beginning. As if she was testing him. And now she was going to do the same to Deidara and Kisame, but different since the elder Uchiha was around to keep everything in check. "Be careful, Deidara-san, you wouldn't want anymore missing limbs, would you?" Kisame taunted.

The blonde haired male pulled back and held a deep frown. Yuki just seemingly smiled innocently. Those greenish blue eyes continued to stare down at her much shorter stature, she seems more contained. I guess Itachi has been working with this whelp. Deidara thought.

It was a definite improvement from the first time he saw her. Yuki crossed her arms and she turned her back to the three Akatsuki men. She started pacing her way towards the large manner. On the back there was this immense hole in the wall. There was a limb in her step and her eyes closed tightly. Ow... this hurts a little bit. But I'll be fine. I don't want to look weak in front of these Akatsuki men... Yuki thought and pursed her lips together even tighter now.

Itachi was noticing this change in her pace and the awkwardness in her step. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he silently walked up towards the young female. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a potato sack, "H-hey! I never said you could throw me over your shoulder like I'm some sack of potatoes or something!" Yuki called out with such a displeased tone in her voice.

In his grip though, the female with strands of dark green hair didn't struggle. She has thought of the possible consequences of doing so, so she made sure to keep still. Deidara arched an eyebrow and he looked towards the shark hybrid and furrowed his eyebrows a little bit. A toothy grin spread across Kisame's face and he stated, "Well, it seems he's warmed up to this girl faster then I thought."

The blonde found this as a perfect opportunity to poke fun at the elder Uchiha, "Well he had no choice didn't he? He was stuck here with a girl like that. But she seems a lot calmer then before though. Still a bit snappy but it'll change soon enough, hmph."

The clay master eyes were staring towards the back door intently, until he averted his gaze back towards the Uchiha's original partner. This glint in his fish like eyes said something about this new developed relationship bugged him. Another sly grin came across his face and he spoke nudging his elbow into the side of Kisame, "Ooh, are you jealous Kisame-san? Afraid this girl is gonna take your place in Itachi-san's heart, hmmm…?"

Angered by this comment, he shot this nasty glare towards the blonde. He lifted up his hand and thwacked him across the head and he snapped at the clay master, "Shut up Deidara."

Deidara brought his hands up upon his head, a frown gracing his features as he was staring at the shark hybrid. In his mind he complained and grumbled. He even through his own tantrum in his thoughts, though he didn't dare to do it out loud. "Bah, you're nothing but a brute, just like Itachi-san." Deidara muttered underneath his breath.

Kisame had already been sauntering towards the back door. His stature disappeared after he closed it. The best part of this mission was that he was finally away from that idiot Tobi. He never had much patience himself when it came to someone such as Tobi. He probably wouldn't have been able to last around Yuki by himself in the beginning; he'd end up wanting to choke her to death or more so rather blowing her up with his master pieces. Finally, he hasted himself inside of the large manner.

Within the living room, Yuki was sitting upon the couch and she had her head looking away. That lower lip of hers was still sticking out with much displeasure. Itachi had embarrassed her a little when he just tossed her over his shoulders so suddenly. And know he was kneeling down expecting her ankle. She felt the cool touch of his finger tips pressing along firmly around the skin of her ankle. "Ah… ouch, that hurts dammit!" Yuki cried out and started to wiggle about.

His menacing gaze peered up towards Yuki's twisted facade of agony. His glance alone told her to be quiet and not to squirm around. Now Itachi was no medical shinobi, but he knew the basics of first aid. Kisame had been sitting on the couch watching with a distant gaze, "Kisame-san, go bring me some ice..." he stated in that expressionless tone of voice.

"Right," Kisame simply stated as he pushed himself from off the couch.

While he wandered into the kitchen, Itachi started to look back down at her ankle. It was swelling up, and by the way she reacted when he applied a certain amount of pressure on to her ankle, she had twisted it during the battle. Thinking back at those two men caused this hardened look to come across his face. From his crouching position, he pushed himself up and started to wander down the hall to go find some bandages to wrap her ankle up. If he tied it tight enough he might be able to constraint it enough so it could heal properly. Itachi pushed the door of the bathroom open and started to think in his mind, now she'll be slowing us down with that ankle of hers. If Rei wants us to do a mission anytime soon she might not be able to walk. Useless…

There he went again, thinking he was superior to everyone. And he was no one had the power he did. Still he had his power being unlimited. His strength growing, but it seemed to slow down now in Akatsuki. Was this organization going to hold him back in his quest for power? Only the future could tell.

He spotted those bandages in the medicine cabinet of the bathroom and he walked back out into the living room to see Kisame standing there with the bag of ice. He took it from him without even saying a 'thank you' to him. He knelt down and started to wrap Yuki's ankle up. Her face twisted with anguish as she tried not to writhe with his rough touch. She gritted her teeth tightly and held back the urge to snap at Itachi for being to abusive to her. "There," he said after he finished it.

She looked down curiously to her bandaged ankle. He handed her the bag of ice as she took a hold of it. Giving that same disquisitive look in her optic as if she didn't know what to do with it. In truth, she wasn't quite sure. She never had injured any part of her before during a battle, that's why she knew nothing about first aid. "Hold it to your ankle."

She nodded her head a bit like an obedient girl and placed the bag of ice over her ankle. Yuki could feel the coolness of the ice blocks radiating on to her injured joint. Her eyes followed as Itachi walked towards the kitchen, side glancing at Kisame and he automatically got up following Itachi into the kitchen. In the kitchen Deidara was scrounging up something to eat, or something to drink. He heard those brooding foot steps come into the kitchen and turned to see Kisame and Itachi. The elder Uchiha sat himself at the table and brought his hands underneath his chin and kept silent. The shark hybrid sat the opposite side of Itachi. Deidara got the gesture after a moment or two of staring and wondering what he wanted. Call it a dumb blonde moment. Deidara had remembered what Rei told them before they set out for this place. He said that they needed to know the status of Yuki, and how she was doing. "Well, what have you learned, hmm?" The clay master enquired.

"She said it was a disease..." Itachi once again vaguely replied to the two Akatsuki members.

"Care to explain?" Kisame said sounding a bit confused.

In this case, Itachi couldn't find a way to dodge explaining. He usually did, because he found no need to explain himself unless the leader pushed Itachi to give details. "A couple weeks back Rei-sama told me to question her." Of course, he followed his orders obediently, "She said it was disease she was born with. At the age of five they had mistaken her for a psychotic person and stopped including her and she became more secluded."

He explained more, but not in much detail. "You become what people believe you are." Kisame stated seriously.

Deidara also had his digits intertwined with each other and he looked at Itachi. Then turned his head to the side and stared at the door. A bit of guilt went through him when he was so disgusting towards the girl because he thought she was nothing but a psychotic brat. He guessed he had a bit of apologizing to do. Or maybe just get to know Yuki more. "Also as I was analyzing her earlier on how she was reacting to the both of you appearing, she seems to react towards respect."

"Meaning that since you can show who's in charge you were able to gain her respect and blah, blah, blah, hmmm…" Deidara interrupted Itachi sort of. The clay master had rolled his eyes a little bit and pressed his hands on to the table a bit.

Shifting his gaze towards Itachi he saw that imminent glare of the elder Uchiha's. The clay master almost got the same look as he did from Itachi. It was going to be a difficult time with being with the both of them together. Itachi was a guy who had a rather large ego and it was either his way or the highway. With Kisame being with the elder Uchiha, he was always so brooding and it was no fun. At least with Tobi he could boss him around some and do what ever he wanted to the mentally challenged man. It looked like Itachi had wanted an apology from Deidara. A very galled look came from the clay master and uttered his breathy apology, "Sorry, hmph…"

There was a sudden thud in the living room from where Yuki was in. Itachi snapped his look to the side and he could hear curses. Yuki had tried to get up and walk but she failed miserably. "Dammit, that hurt... shit."

She looked up when she saw Itachi enter the living room and he looked down to the girl on the carpeted floor. She pursed her lips together and she placed her forehead on the ground and she started to push herself up from the ground, saying, "I'm fine, I'm fine. There's no need to get upset. I can... walk."

It was futile though; she almost crashed on to the ground again until she felt a pair of arms catch on her own. Her legs touching the ground but her upper body didn't make contact with the ground. Once again Itachi had helped her when she didn't want it. She stayed silent. She wasn't going to show her displeasure because it would make her seem ungrateful. "Where do you think your going?" He enquired with this expressionless look on his face and it was in his monotone voice.

"I just didn't want to it down." She simply stated and she turned her head to the side for a moment.

One thing didn't change about Yuki; she was still a bit troublesome to work with. She was a very stubborn person and she didn't seem to understand that she was injured and she shouldn't be walking around. Even if she did, she probably would still try to walk around. "If you keep moving around like that then your ankle won't heal. If we get a mission from Rei-sama that includes you, you'll be slowing us down and you won't be useful."

In a very twisted way he was concerned for her. He made it seem it was more in his own selfish ways because he had explained the mission within his reasoning. Yuki had nothing to say of that and she just seemed to look away more. I don't want to make him upset with me more than I probably have. I should really stop. She though in her mind and she sighed softly.

"Sorry..." She whispered.

Yuki found herself apologizing to Itachi once again. Why? She wasn't quite sure herself. All she knew was that she was warming up more and more towards the elder Uchiha. He didn't seem as bad as he made himself out to be. There was still a lot about him she didn't know of. So many mysteries to unravel about him. "Can you just... take me to my room?" She inquired with a gentle voice.

"Later." He spoke seriously.

"Why?" She wanted to know why later. She kind of wanted to go to her room now.

"You need to eat something and you need to eat with Kisame and Deidara too." He stated monotonously.

Upon hearing that she made a look of disgust. Kisame was just unpleasant to look at and Deidara was probably going to be cracking that stupid psychotic brat crap. If it was Itachi and her she could probably eat in her own solitude. She had a feeling she would be crying for that in her mind even more now with two new people around. She sighed heavily and she nodded her head, "Alright then."

Itachi placed her on the couch once again and she held the ice to her ankle and just watched as the elder Uchiha disappeared into the kitchen once again.

About thirty minutes later Deidara, Kisame, and Itachi came out with pot stickers on their plates and some rice. Earlier she had heard the microwave going and it was no surprise to her. Men were the same when it came to preparing food. Just throw something into the microwave and you have something eat. In the condition she was in when growing up, she was never allowed in the kitchen. Itachi stood right before her and handed her the plate. Her arms stretched out as she reached for it. "...Thank you." She told Itachi.

She just got this look from him and that was it. No, your welcome Yuki, or even a grunt of acknowledgment. She licked her lips slightly as she picked up her chopsticks and she started poking through the rice as if she was expecting it to come out and jump on her and attack. The three Akatsuki men watched as she was just poking around about her food. Her eyes glanced up to see them staring at her. "...?"

Deidara just grinned a bit as he almost wanted to start laughing and poke fun at Itachi saying that he probably shouldn't cook because it seemed Yuki didn't like it. It was difficult to hold it back. The clay master had to bring his hand towards his mouth and let out a soft chortle before he started to shovel the food in his mouth. "Is there something wrong with it?" enquired Itachi arching an incredulous eyebrow.

She gently shook her hands and she started to laugh nervously, "Oh! No there's nothing wrong with it. Sorry..." she bit her bottom lip gently and she looked back down to her food and started to eat.

Kisame noticed she acted normal around Itachi. But when Deidara or him, tried to speak with her she would snap angrily at them. And almost this killer intent was shining in her eyes. Maybe it would change... maybe it wouldn't.

* * *

Okay so it didn't take me less then a month to update this fic. I'm sorry I really am. But at least I was able to update and there is hope that I'll be updating faster because I got like the rest of the four pages of this done in the morning. anyway here was the chapter update. Sorry it was probably a bit slow but I need to sort of start working on Yuki's and Itachi's relantionship a little bit more. Maybe the chapter after the next I'll get back into some action with a misson or something. Once again thanks and please reviews! please! 


	9. That Bastard!

Yay, I'm so happy I got this chapter out. In all reality it didn't take me long to update this chapter and I'm glad it's finally done. I was going to go into more of a decent relatinship between Deidara and Yuki but then I decided it's too soon so I'm going to do my best to drag it out a few more chapters. Please review, their very encourging. I like to thank Alumia for her gracious review because that's what got me writting this chapter so fast even if I hadn't started on it. This took me 5 days to type all together, and that's the fastest I've ever done it. Thank you once again Alumia!

Gracious thanks to you.

* * *

Such a breezy and cool morning brought upon during the welcoming autumn months. The sun was illuminating brightly outside shining down on to the earth. The tress swayed with a cool breeze howling through the area, it made the day have an icy bite to it. Those green leaves were changing pigments. No longer were those leaves a lush green. It was becoming more yellow golden, orange… a beautiful array of a golden heaven. The grass was becoming dryer by the day, turning into its dry yellow color. Leaves also danced along the ground and scattered across the pathways. Yuki jumped on to the leave and it cracked beneath her feet. She cringed and sat down, "It still hurts…" She muttered to herself. 

Deidara was standing by the door watching her act a bit like a child. His eyes were narrowed into a bit of a stare. Those blue green eyes of his giving that glare. The blonde clay master's lips were pushed out into a childish like pout. His eyebrows were folded and his face continued to scrunch up. When he saw her emerald eyes look his way, Deidara quickly looked off to the other side, away from looking at her. His eyes wandered to the corner to look back at her. She was still looking at him! "What" he spoke with attitude in his voice.

"I should be asking YOU that." Yuki snapped back crossing her arms against her chest.

Deidara retorted, "You're the one staring at me."

"You were staring at me first," Yuki counter backed at Deidara.

"Why don't you just shut up, hm" He got more upset.

Yuki picked the kunai from her pouch and she tossed it right at him. It barely missed his cheek and chopped away some of those beautiful lush locks of his hair. His eyes widened and he started shouting, "Gah! What the hell did you do!?"

Yuki snapped, "What the hell do you think I did! Next time that kunai is going in your eye!"

His eyes were as wide as rice crackers and he held on to his hair and continued to bellow in his displeasure. From inside Itachi was watching from the window. Despite the talk he has had with Deidara and Itachi, he still is reckless with the things he says. Itachi had a frown deep on his face. Those strands of obsidian hair obscuring in front of his face. The least he could do is force himself to get along with Yuki, even if he doesn't want to, Itachi thought hopelessly. He started to head out there before things turned out worse.

"You're nothing but a psychotic brat, un!" Deidara hissed

"I'll show you psychotic bra-"

"Yuki-san!" A voice had then interrupted.

Quickly Yuki looked down and pursed her lips together and she started moving her feet along the ground. It was Itachi, and she knew to calm down because she didn't want to make Itachi upset. She's worked very hard for Itachi not to be so cruel to her. He now actually kind of could talk to her without her feeling uncomfortable, "I'm sorry Itachi." Yuki confessed.

The elder Uchiha turned himself around and he glared at the blond clay master. He took a step forward and Deidara stepped back as he backed himself up into the wall. Deidara looked wearily towards Itachi, "What the hell are you doing? Are you really that dim-witted? You should know starting fights or arguments is unwise with dealing with Yuki." His sharingan eyes narrowed more into this ominous glare, "What ever the hell you're doing you need to stop." His hiss was clear in the icy bite in his tone.

Deidara merely frowned and looked away as Itachi backed up. He despised how Itachi always walked around and thought he was in charge of everything. He loathed those sharingan eyes and it brought much disdain to his mind. After all, he was the one who wanted to defeat those eyes. They weren't all that special, his art was special, and "Do you understand me?" Itachi finally said as he stepped back once more getting ready to go back into the manor.

"Yes…" Deidara hastily replied.

With that he turned around and walked back into the house. Deidara sighed and he stomped his way in the house too. Yuki just stared at them and her lips pursed tightly together. They all disappeared into the house and… she felt alone. For once she felt alone and she didn't enjoy the feeling. Slowly she made her way back towards the door and opened it; she jumped back in surprise and on to her ass. Her eyes looked up and saw the blue skinned shark man looking down at her with those beady fishy eyes of his. Yuki was repulsed by him but he was one of the ones she was going to have to put up with, "And where are you going?" Yuki inquired a bit suspiciously.

"Training, I'm in the mood to cause destruction." Kisame gave a toothy grin.

Oh it seemed so like him, it was him. Unlike Itachi there was no grace to his fighting. All it was was smashing and thrashing everything around and shaving the skin off of people with his Samehada. His way of fighting could also be recognized somewhat of a bulldozer just trudging along. Itachi had this cat like grace to him when he fought. Yuki had only seen a small bit of his fighting when the Akatsuki first retrieved her, so she didn't know his whole fighting style, "Alright then… I guess I'll be on my way." Yuki spoke as she passed by him.

Her emerald eyes stared around as she was looking around for Itachi. He was here somewhere. Her hands came in front of her body and she folded her fingers together rather lightly. The palm of her hand was resting on her stomach, and pursed her lips together tightly. She turned into a room to see that Itachi was just sitting on the couch staring out the window. She walked closer and she stretched her neck out a bit. Strands of her forest dark green hair fell over her shoulder and spoke softly, "Do you know when this leader of yours," Pein was his name if she recalled, "Will show his face towards us…"

"…I'm not sure." Itachi spoke.

His face did not turn to the side to look at her. His scarlet eyes continued to stare out the window. He seemed so fascinated what was going on outside. A lot of thoughts were actually going through his mind though. He was thinking when the last battle he had with his brother was long ago and it the last time… it's been a while. Those eyes of his eased more to a half lidded state, expression fallen into more of this expressionless look but the glint in his eyes showed a bit of depression.

Itachi stood up from the ground and he walked towards the young female. He stood right next to her, feet having evenly distributed weight, head straight forward and shoulders back… Itachi had perfect posture, "How is your ankle?" Itachi questioned not even looking at her.

Yuki replied back with the same type of tone, "It hurts a little bit though, when I jump and run… you know. I can walk on it fine without it bothering me much. I can just ignore most of the dull pain."

"Alright" he vaguely replied and then stepped off.

Itachi knew he was rather anti-social. He could feel Yuki's disappointed stare upon his back as he slowly walked down the hallway. His hands were tucked in his sleeves and kept looking down on the ground. That mind of his was wondering exactly when Sasuke was going to come after him. He's been at a stand still for a while for his younger brother to be able to detect him.

Itachi had nothing to look forward to in his future. He lived in the now and just awaited for the day Sasuke could kill him. Why did he do what he did? Sometimes Itachi was confused himself then other times he fully understood it and he was still searching for that limit. That surge of power had blasted through his body that faithful night of the full moon. Tears from the loved ones… cries from the young Uchiha that survived, cries of confusion. Itachi was a horrible big brother.

The elder Uchiha finally came to a pause as he was standing in front of the door to his own room. He pulled it open and shut it behind him. He sat down on the bed, the white comforters scrunching up as his weight was placed on his bed. The bed gave a light squeak when he pushed himself further back so his back was pressing up against the solid white walls. He unzipped the cloak of black and red clouds and pulled out a small picture in a simple square locket. It was family portrait. His father Fugaku stood there with one of his arms poking from the cloth of his green shirt, his expressionless look on his face, the one that Itachi wears a lot now. Fugaku's facial features were rough… Itachi resembled a tad more of his father and more so when he would become older. His mother Mikoto stood next to his father with a big smile spread across her face. Her arm reached out over Fugaku. Her face was gentle and held a lot of happiness. Those soft structures of her face, Sasuke took a lot of her genes. Itachi was standing in front and in the middle of his mother and father with a gentle smile on his face. Back then Itachi's eyes weren't as sinister; they still held this distant glint within them. Finally, in his arms his little three/four year old brother, Sasuke, was held in his arms. He was adorable as a little one. Those slightly round cheeks of his, his small petite form and those tiny hands of his. Such a beautiful and youthful childlike smile spread across his, a time when everything seemed perfect.

There was a knock on the door and then it pushed open. He looked up and stared at Yuki had come into the room, "You should wait until I tell you that you can enter." He spoke and crossed his arm against his chest for a moment and looked over to the other side.

"I'm sorry." Yuki apologized.

She found herself saying sorry to Itachi more then she had ever said to him. Her eyes closed softly and fully stepped into the room, "What are you holding?" she asked as she stepped in a bit more.

Those walls of his then started to build up around him and tucked the simple locket away. "It's nothing…" His expressionless tone rung out in her ears

She sat down on the bed, at the edge keeping her at a good distance away from him, "What do you want?"

"Er… I'm not sure. I… don't have anything to do." She stated.

"Go talk to Deidara-san… its best you do." Itachi suggested.

Yuki snapped, "Hell no! I'm not talking to that idiotic bastard! He's so rude that I…I just wanna break his neck and gouge his eyes out!"

"Yuki-san…" Itachi's voice got deeper with more warning to it.

"But I don't want to talk to him!" Yuki got this child like complained to the elder Uchiha.

"Yuki-san," he started to scold her, "What are you going to do when we finally get to the Akatsuki head quarters. We have many different members there how are you going get along with them?"

Yuki frowned more and she looked down as she started to shift uncomfortably on the edge of the bed. Her hands pressing down on to her lap a bit more and she turned her head over to the side as she stared at Itachi, "I…"

Well, she didn't know if she wanted to tell Itachi that she didn't want to join. He might tell the leader and it'd take longer to confront him. She wants to wait to give him her final answer, "I don't know." She lied.

"Maybe things will change by then." Yuki suggested.

Maybe when Pein actually decided to show him to the people residing in the building, Yuki took in a deep breath and eased it out. She stood up from the bed and she smiled at the elder Uchiha, "I guess I should leave you alone now."

As quickly as her smile had spread across her face, it disappeared and she walked towards the door opening it. She closed the door and her eyes lowered to the ground for a moment. Yuki had to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her day. Oh how wonderful that was going to be.

Another week had passed since Yuki has been waiting for Pein to come along. It seemed to be taking forever though. A frown was spread across her face. Everyone was gone. Deidara was probably the only one who was closet to the manor. Her fingers came to the top of her head and she started to smooth her hair down, her fingers coming stroking through those dark green strands of hers. Her leg was placed over her other leg, finally she got fed up with it and she stood up from the kitchen chair. She felt so useless at this point. She hasn't had a good fight in a while, and felt useless to Itachi at this point.

Her stomach rumbled hungrily and a groan escaped her lips. An idea began to stir up in her mind. Maybe she could make something for Itachi. As a young woman she should at least know a small bit of the kitchen. Her eyes stared to the oven. Her impassive expression hardening a bit, and put her index finger to her lip, "I…don't know what to do. Should I try?"

Conveniently on the side of the counter there was a book on the ground. Her eyes stared at it as her hands came to the top of the book. Her fingers slid down it for a moment, "How hard should it be to try and follow a recipe?" she asked herself.

Well, a few hours later she found out. There was a mess on the ground form where she had been standing at. She had tried a test run on one of the dishes and it was very burnt. She was on the ground with her hands in her face, "Oh god what the hell did I do!?" She cried.

The kitchen looked like a total disaster to her. Though in reality it wasn't as bad as she was making it seem and the door opened, her heart jumped a bit. At first she thought it was Itachi and she was going to get in major trouble. A second later she realized it was only Deidara. He stepped into the kitchen and saw the mess on the floor. His eyes went wide and they shot towards the girl staring at him. Her look was like a deer standing in night and a car was hurdling towards it, "What the hell are you thinking, hm!?" Deidara began to shout.

Yuki spat back, "Shut up!"

"I'm surprised you didn't burn down the damn house!" the blonde clay master continued.

Yuki could only take so much from him; especially it was hard to tolerate him from the start. The female stood up and walked up towards Deidara. Her emerald eyes seemed brighter with this crazed anger, "Why don't you just shut the fuck up!?" she growled out slightly and she brought her hand to his throat, shoving him to the wall. He tried to pry her hand from his throat but all his attempts were futile. Yuki had this stronger grip and it was becoming hard for him to breath.

"It's only been a few weeks since you and that repulsive creature came into this manor! All you have done is criticize me and insult me and you don't fucken respect me! Obliviously you forget who I am." Her fingers continued to dig into his neck.

Her ominous death glare burned into Deidara's dilating pupils. When she heard his gasp of breath her insane look softened, those emerald optic wide a she finally let go of him, "Ah…!"

He slightly dropped on to the floor; she stared with this unrelieved look. Her hand was shaking and she took a step back. Those emerald eyes of her shut tightly, not believing what happened at the moment. If I had been holding on to his neck any longer I could have killed him, god dammit!

Yuki dashed passed Deidara, his bluish green eyes staring at her. A loud slam of the door was heard and the blonde clay master looked to the ground. It may have not really shown much but he had felt a small twinge of fear. Luckily he hadn't made the stupid mistake of calling her a psychotic brat or else he may not be here by now.

The blond felt a rough soreness on his neck. Slowly he raised his hands to his digits could graze gently across his flesh. He pulled back and saw a tinge of blood on his fingers. Her nails must have dug into his fleshy tissue. He glared down to his fingers and gritted his teeth bitterly. He wasn't upset with himself but he still wasn't pleased with the little insane brat around. He stood up from the ground and wonder who in the hell was going to clean this up. Thinking in his mind, he could go up and force the female to do it herself since she was the one who caused the mess. Then his thoughts would switch to something else thinking that he doesn't really want her around because she could suddenly snap again and this time not hold back. He sighed in defeat and decided that maybe it was best that he cleaned this mess up.

He walked towards sink and looked down towards the mess upon the floor over near the stove. Knowing to take the sponge, he ran it under the warm water seeping from faucet and saw the sponge expand and more water poured into it. His other hand reached over and grabbed the plug for the sink. He decided maybe it be best to fill the water with soap and warm water. He walked towards the mess on the floor as started to wipe up the unbelievable mess in the floor. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he could only hope that this wasn't going to take too long.

It was like maybe two hours later when Deidara finished. He was spread eagle wide on the floor, head turned to the right side and his hair webbed all over the place on the floor. His hands were light pruned from the water that was in contact with his hands for too long. His optic were eased to a half lidded state, feeling rather fatigued at the moment. His mouth would open up wide and a long yawn escaped his mouth. Quickly another sour expression came across his face and pushed him self up from the ground and huffed. "It was all her fault I had to clean up this damn mess, hm!!"

Suddenly he turned his head back when there was a click of the door. He raised himself from the ground to look at the door. The light began to flood into the living room as the door would open up wider. A tall silhouette was in the door way, he saw more details as they stepped through. Itachi and Kisame were now home. The shark hybrid smirked, "What's wrong Deidara, it looks like you just got mauled by a bear."

Deidara bit, "Yeah, if you consider that damn brat a bear."

Upon hearing this, Itachi quickly narrowed his eyes into this deathly ominous stare right towards Deidara. A cold sweat start to drip down the side of his face, Itachi said, "What did you do?" accusing Deidara right then and there.

"It was her fa-!"

Itachi eyes flashed with infuriation and Deidara paused and looked down, "Well she doing some bull shit in the kitchen and there was mess all over the floor. The bitch dug her fingernails into my neck and I ended up cleaning this mess all by myself!"

Kisame began to snicker, "Kisame-san..." his voice growled lightly, intolerant of any immature behavior.

The shark hybrid had then signed in utter defeat and looked away, "Kisame-san, go and make sure Yuki hasn't done anything."

Done anything that she shouldn't have, even if Itachi doubted it at the moment since her behavior has improved a lot, at least around the elder Uchiha anyways. He didn't expect her to completely like him; she could be forcing herself to deal with him actually.

Down the hall and to the front door of her room, he opened it widely and stared around the room. It was a complete mess. The window was broken, everything on the bed was ripped and torn and tossed all over the room. Cotton and feathers from the pillows were scattered all over the place. Glass vases and portraits were shattered upon the floor. The worst part was Yuki wasn't within this room! "Uh… Itachi!"

Itachi stepped down the hallway to see what Kisame seemed freaked out about. He peered into the room, and completely his eyes closed in a slight frustration. Yuki ran away again, and yet he couldn't seem to think of a perfect punishment for her. This time it was out of his control. Itachi retorted faintly, "Dammit." He had better hurry before Pein does decide to show up at an inappropriate time and Yuki isn't within presence. He started to take his drudging stride down the hall and to the back sliding door, "You two stay here. I have something to go fetch." His impassive stare directed towards them. They only nodded in silence.

At the pond Yuki stood at. She looked so piercingly into the water. The young female sat down and she crossed her arms against her chest strictly. The girl staring back at her with haunting eyes of emerald green, Yuki could no longer stand to stare at the reflection gazing back at her. Yuki felt more at a calm state of mind as she kept standing there. It's been a while because… she hasn't lost her cool like that in a while. "I…I really thought I was getting better…" she whispered to herself as she placed her hand right over her chest.

Within the dark murky shadows, a pair of crimson eyes stared out towards the female standing in front of the small pond. Itachi Uchiha was hiding within those shadows. His hands were easing at his sides and he was slightly leaning against the rough, jagged tree trunk. She hasn't gone far… Deidara must have just been extremely stupid, Itachi thought.

He stepped from the shadows, out of the bushes and quickly Yuki's head turned around and she saw Itachi standing there, "What do you want?" Yuki bitterly inquired towards the elder Uchiha.

"What did he do?" Itachi asked.

Now, he didn't have to give much detail on his question. Yuki should know what he meant with that vague question of his, "He's a bastard and that's all there is to it." Yuki claimed.

Her hands came to her hips, attitude in her voice as she kept staring towards him. Even looking upon his form she did not relax. Who whole body was in a state of tension, "I completely refuse to have any part with him!"

A silent huff escaped her lips and she brought her hand up towards her lips and she started to play with the soft tissue. There was another sound within the air in the rustling bushes. It was probably some squirrel in the first place. Itachi though, looked at the corner of his eyes with this suspicious look in his eyes, "Yuki." Itachi stated.

She replied, "Yes?"

"Go back." Was his simple answer

"Why?" The female pleaded now.

"Just go back okay?" Itachi had this cruel look on his face.

Yuki pushed it further, "No, I'm not going back until you tell me wh-" Her eyes went wide and she fainted.

Itachi had to knock her out with his sharingan. She slumped on to the ground and he went over and picked her up, and tossed her over his shoulder lightly.

"Come out now, I know you're here…" Itachi's voice was soft and vague.

The stature that was holding them in the shadow was slowly coming from behind the bushes they were hiding in. Though, they fully did not come out. Yet, Itachi knew exactly who he was. His arms holding on to Yuki's form securely so she wouldn't be falling off… "Sasuke…"

"Itachi…" His hateful voice stung out Itachi's name.

Sasuke stood facing towards Itachi who had his back towards him. The wind was blowing and the sun was hiding behind the clouds. Tension was within the air.


	10. Brothers

**AN: **D: OMFG its been like forever since I updated this story, yes? I'm sorry but I suffered a severe writters block for like the past... what... year or so? xD maybe a little less?

But seriously, I really did have a horrible case of writters block. Though finally I can say thats it over and I was able to come up with the next installment of this chapter! yay for me! Anyway I beg your pardon if this chapter isn't all so good. Fighting scenes are not my forte. Though I can say it only took me 3 days to type this up and I promise the next chapter will be longer. I just wanted to hurry and update. Lol and I also thank Naruto Ultimate ninja 3 for inspiring me to write this fight scene out.

* * *

The dimming sun was slowly starting to set behind the mountain range

The dimming sun was slowly starting to set behind the mountain range. The orange and purple hues were mixing in the sky and dancing together. On the dirt and grass lied the girl with her forest green hair mixing with the colors of the grass. She hadn't heeded the warning Itachi gave her and he didn't have time to argue with her. Those feminine crimson optic stared at the young man before him, "Little brother." Came the cold tone of his voice.

"Itachi," The younger Uchiha brother seethed through his teeth.

Itachi spoke flatly, "Why are you here?"

Now was not the time he had to be messing with his little brother, unfortunately. He had better things to do, and now… now was not the time to be playing with Sasuke. Before Sasuke could speak, the elder Uchiha taunted him so slightly, "I don't have time to be messing with you."

That only made Sasuke flare with more anger, more resentment towards his older brother, "I came here to destroy you once and for all!"

A swift movement and Sasuke's blade smoothly pulled out. Another vast move and he was behind Itachi, the cold metal slid into his body. The vital fluid splattered everywhere and then Sasuke grit his teeth. It was only seconds later when genjutsu trick disappeared. Sasuke whirled his head around and saw Itachi behind the bushes with the girl in his arms, "You've improved, but its not good enough." He hissed smoothly.

In a blink of an eye he had quickly set Yuki down on to the ground once more and appeared behind his brother. There was a reflected light from the tree and Sasuke had spotted this. The kusanagi blade that was held within his hands blocked the small kunai blade held in the palm of Itachi's hands. The other hand that was came striking forward in a powerful burst. Sasuke let out a cry as he stumbled back a little bit. A small stream of blood eased out of the corner of his mouth. Another angry growl raged from his lips. The hot blooded Uchiha came with another forceful attack, his arm that was out stretched with the sword in his hand, with his chakra he had extended it. It seemed to have landed a hit on Itachi but quickly his form disappeared. The tall brooding stature came behind Sasuke and it bent over to send a foot into his back. Sasuke's hand snapped back and forcefully tossed him forward. Itachi's eyes widened with a hidden surprise. He wasn't going full force on his brother, not yet at lease. The elder Uchiha rebounded from the tree he was going to crash into. His feet skidded along the ground. The clouds of dust started to dance around the small battlefield, "I will NOT be ignored!" Sasuke bellowed.

Within that instant Sasuke's eyes bled into sharingan. There was no way he was going to let his brother escape so easily. The sun was beginning to settle a little bit more behind the mountains, the blue sky starting to turn black… and a full moon was going to be out tonight. Sasuke's hands shoved into the shuriken pouch and tossed the silver stars. Itachi countered them with his own shuriken. In an elegant movement Itachi had ducked below the flying weapons. In a flash he was face to face with his little brother. Itachi's hand seized Sasuke's white shirt, lifted him over his head and with his other fist he punched him in the stomach and he went flying into the air. The red liquid shrouded into a mist for a brief moment. Some of the blood dusted upon his cheeks.

The younger brothers' stature collapsed on to the ground with a distinct thud. Sasuke was lying there for a moment, his hands grasping for something to help him pull himself up. There was just so much pain that was bursting on his stomach. He struggled to get himself up. He was forced to using his sword to lift himself. A heavy breath huffed from his pout lips. Sasuke lowered his head and smirked as those dark bangs shadowed his eyes. "I've got you," came an egotistical sneer.

Behind Itachi the real Sasuke was there. The flashing light of his chidori burning in the palm of his hands. "Chidori!!" Sasuke screamed.

His hand jabbed forward and nailed Itachi right in the chest. There was a blinding flash of light that could be seen for miles and was about 10 miles in radius. Once it cleared, both of the brothers stood their… unharmed, "Impressive." Was the only thing that could spew from his mouth.

Sasuke was frustrated at Itachi, "Tch, take this seriously why don't you?"

"I told you, I don't have time to play with you." Itachi retorted.

This made the younger Uchiha even more infuriated. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and thrust it towards the man he despised most. Itachi frowned his direction and simply dodged the attack like it was nothing to heed attention to. Though what he did no expect was the kunai that came whizzing by his face. The skin split open and a small dribble of blood came oozing from the fresh wound. The young Uchiha brother looked on to Itachi and he saw the blood that came down his cheeks. He…actually hit Itachi, the real one, Sasuke was able to make him bleed! It wasn't wise for him to be living in his fantasy for too long. This was a good chance to land more hits on the eldest brother.

Itachi's fingers wiped the blood that was sliding down his face and he took a look at it. Sasuke actually wounded him? He didn't know whether to feel proud of him or to feel slightly frustrated by him. Now wasn't the time. "Pay attention!" came the strict voice of his younger brother.

Sasuke tried to land a punch on Itachi. The Uchiha Akatsuki member whirled around and grabbed on to his brothers fist. Itachi's own balled up hand targeted Sasuke's stomach. There was a counter for it and Sasuke took a hold of his brother's fist. There was a loud slap of skin as Itachi quickly moved Sasuke's arm to his back, twisting it painfully. A loud shout came roaring into the air. The startling noise had the birds flutter away in fear. A few lush green leaves floated gently on to the earth as they had been ripped from the trees. The younger brother lowered his head to the ground. His obsidian bangs shadowing his eyes. He was breathing softly as his older brother had him in this bind. There was a suspicion going through Itachi's mind. His brother had yet to struggle free, he must have been thinking of something. To predict his next attack… he couldn't tell what it was going to be. Well, he might as well finish this off now. Knock him unconscious and leave with Yuki. Itachi slammed his foot into Sasuke's back. There was another loud shrill from him but then it had quickly stopped, "Heh…" Sasuke breathed.

Itachi had arched an elegant brow, "Hm?"

Out of the corner of his eye there was another one of Sasuke. His eyes quickly glanced, and it was a mere substitution jutsu. That blade of his came slashing forth towards Itachi. Quickly his hand grabbed for the steel and blocked it from hitting his shoulder. Blood started to pour out of Itachi's hand. Sasuke was forcing the blade down more on his hand, causing more of the vital fluid to splatter on to the grass. Itachi was forced to step back to keep from the blade going any further into his hand. He tried pushing it to the side but Sasuke wouldn't allow it. Sasuke really has improved over the years… even being with the belly dragger of his. Well, and even to admit he was still playing around with his little brother. This isn't even half of his powers.

A soft groaning sound could be heard from behind the bushes. It sounded like Yuki was slowly being conscious again. Now, he really had to end this. Swiftly, the elder Uchiha advanced towards Sasuke and once more seized his wrist by pulling him forward, foot coming and kicking him backwards. Sasuke's back had landed in the tree. From his mouth more blood spewed.

This is what was rousing Yuki to wake up. "Mm…" she mumbled softly.

Her body felt extremely heavy. It was difficult to open her eyes no matter how much she desired to open them. There was something going amiss, she could sense it. There was the constant sound as if someone was fighting. There were cries in the air that rang throughout her head. Not to mention, the smell of blood was heavy in her nose. It had only gotten stronger, and she forced her eyes open. "Huh…"

"Stop toying with me!!" Sasuke cried out angrily.

Itachi responded, "Foolish brother,"

Itachi! That's Itachi's voice, thought Yuki as she forced herself up.

She noticed she was hidden in the brush. Her eyes wandered around feverishly, as if she forgot where the hell she was! Finally her optic set to the clearing and noticed someone standing there bitterly yelling at Itachi. He looked so similar to Itachi that for a moment Yuki had to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Itachi felt Yuki's presence now that she was awake. Now was really when he couldn't waste time. The blood was already arousing that animalistic side of hers. "Fine, if that is your wish."

Yuki observed Itachi move and she saw some of his blood fall from his hand and she trailed her eyes to the large puddle of scarlet liquid dampening and slowly soaking into the grass, "Ita-!" she was about to scream his name.

The sudden projectile of Sasuke and the loud crashing of a body being thrown into a tree had Yuki pause mid cry to stare out with utter shock. Itachi just ruthlessly threw that boy into the tree. Only then did she feel like she was witnessing some of the true strength Itachi had, but that wasn't all of it. She knew it, he could go so much further then his is right now.

Itachi approached Sasuke and he knelt down before him. He was resting on the balls of his feet. His fingers assaulted Sasuke's face as he pulled him forward to meet eyes with him. His mangekyo sharingan blazing brightly and angrily towards his younger brother, a cruel expression accompanied his expression, "I told you I didn't have time to play with you, foolish brother. You still lack hatred…"

Sasuke felt anger surge through his body. His brother got the best of him again… but he could see the gap was closing slowly. Sasuke was getting stronger but it simply wasn't good enough. He was preparing himself for Tsukiyomi as his brothers mocking eyes burned deeply into his own. In a blink of an eye he was just put to sleep. He didn't even notice his brothers eyes bleed back to normal sharingan. Itachi would have used it on his brother but he realized that he didn't want to be weak in taking back Yuki to the manner. As it is, she probably was going to be asking along the way.

Brother…, she thought just slightly confused.

Itachi had been speaking softly and she didn't know if she was hearing him right. Though she was absolutely sure that he had said brother and it made perfect sense on why the boy looked so much like Itachi. Yuki licked her chapped lips in attempt to moisten them. Her eyes staring towards Itachi… if she already didn't have enough respect for him, she surely did now. It was hard realizing that he could have done worse to her when she behaved in such savage ways. Her hands were over her mouth and nose only to try and block the smell of blood. During those last moments of the fight she couldn't help but grin devilishly and felt the turn on of the blood. It was rousing that dangerous side of hers.

Itachi approached the bushes and he looked at Yuki who looked oddly ill the way she covered her mouth. It was best if they got out of here right now. He passed Yuki without a word… knowing if he just kept going that she was to follow behind him…


	11. Devilish intents

Alrighty, here's the next chapter... the fastest I updated a chapter eh? ;D Not much to say but I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Yuki was walking beside Itachi as she stared at him calmly. She thinned her lips together tightly; her fingers interlaced with each other as her eyes then looked downward. The female was so curious right now. It was only natural after she had seen a boy who looked just like Itachi and then it turned out to be his brother. Itachi sensed this coming from Yuki but he did nothing about it. His lips were sealed tightly and his eyes narrowed to the front. Even if Yuki did ask, Itachi wasn't going to tell her anything. It was none of her business what was going on in his life, "Itachi…" she uttered gently.

"…," he was silent and he turned his head over to the side and stared at her with this sort of cruel stare.

Yuki was very hesitant, but, it shouldn't hurt to ask, right, "You're brother… who… can you tell me more about him?"

Itachi knew she was going to ask. "It's none of your business," was his rather cruel reply.

A soft laugh escaped her lips and she scratched the back of her head nervously, "Oh… yeah sorry."

Dammit, she knew it. The elder Uchiha wasn't going to tell her shit and that pissed her off somewhat. What the hell was she going to do about it though? Nothing, because she can't do anything, it's not like she can force it out of him. Or can I? She questioned in her head.

She started to cook up something devious in her mind… but she was going to have to call it a truce with Deidara, Kisame she really she didn't have a problem with. He'd probably play along. First I'm going to have to see if Kisame-san knows anything before I even dare do what I'm about to do. If not then I'm sure the both of them would be as curious as I am. She thought with a bit of a smirk expression inside her thoughts.

First she would bribe them, seduce their minds into curiosity. Itachi would need to remain conscious the whole time but make sure Deidara and Kisame were and then she would ask. Oh yes, this was going to work out pleasantly and in her favor. At least, she hoped it would. Yuki couldn't believe she was going to have to go through such trickery to get the answers out of him.

Once more, Itachi was glancing at the young female out of the corner of his eyes. She seemed to be deep in though. Her mouth seemed to twitch as if she had wanted to smirk. This made his mind wander and think of something suspicious that could be going through his mind. Then again maybe he was thinking too much into this? Itachi could be a bit over analytical at times. That's what always made him seem cruel and heartless. When he saw Yuki's eyes glance back up to him, he looked away. His eyes were straightforward on to the trail that was set before them. He closed his gently then.

Can he read through me, Yuki thought worriedly in her mind?

Yuki's eyes looked away and towards the lush green grass they were walking on. The afternoon was setting in. By the time they got back at the manner it would be in the mid afternoon, early evening at the latest.

Slowly the silence was eating away at her. It was something that enjoyed prodding at her sides and tearing at her hair painfully. Yuki was tapping her fingers together. Itachi arched an incredulous eyebrow at her. She seemed as if something was bugging her. The expression on her façade, he could see she was going to try and start a conversation if not now then extremely soon. 

He could see her lips moving as if she was about to speak. Did he even spot a bead of sweat gathering at the temple of her head?

Speak of the devil; she started to speak, "Hey… Itachi… how long is it going to take to get back?"

He shrugged, "Getting tired?"

The way he made it sound was as if she had no stamina to handle this walk. It slightly infuriated her and she stuck her lower lip and she gripped tightly on to her fists. She calmed herself, the lingering smell of blood in her nose still, "No," she started rudely but calmed, "I was just wondering."

"Mid-afternoon the latest," he responded.

Yuki's eyes looked away then, "Oh…okay."

And sure enough, about a few hours later it was mid afternoon going on to early evening. They just arrived at the cobble stone path that had several dried up leaves scattered across it. Birds stood peacefully at their spots but started to hop away as they would approach. Once they inched closer to the animals, their wings fluttered and they flew away into the trees, shaking the branches and leaves. Itachi stopped which made Yuki pause in mid step. Then she turned over and looked at him, "Itachi?" she questioned softly.

"…I need some quiet." He turned over and started to head towards the lake that wasn't too far away from here.

A soft sigh eased from her lips and she looked the other way and frowned to herself. Well, she was good and well going to use this as her chance to talk to Kisame. She thinned her lips tightly together and she wandered back towards the manner. Once arriving at the door she saw the tall blue skinned man coming from the door, "Kisame-san?" she questioned.

"Yeah, what do you want?" came his shrewd voice.

Her teeth came and bit the bottom flesh of her lip and she started to play with her hair a bit and then looked at his bitty fish eyes, "How much do you know about Itachi?"

A loud laughter came from his lips and his eyes closed. He found this amusing, didn't he? That just kind of made her a tad bit on the angry side. Kisame looked back down to her and saw that she was completely serious; "You're serious?" he choked through the finishes of his laughter.

Yuki strictly put her hands on her hips and replied with much attitude in her voice, "Uh, yeah I'm one hundred percent serious!"

The shark man cleared his throat then, "About what exactly?"

"His life, like before he killed his clan off." Yuki went on, not afraid to slam Kisame up against the wall if she had to.

"Sorry, not much. For the longest time I didn't even know he had a brother," this was bad news for Yuki.

A soft and slightly irritated sigh escaped from her lips, "Ah, okay. I'm going to make a deal with you."

This had Kisame already curious; he had arched an eyebrow at this though. He waited for her to continue to see what someone like her had to offer him, "This is going to be a once in a life time chance so even if you're not willing to cooperate and get the same goal out of it as me. You will… and I mean you will do it."

He laughed as she seemed so serious, "And what are you going to do if I don't?"

A pale hand came out and seized Kisame's neck and her savage look burned into his fish eyes. Her fingers constricted his air way and she let a devilish smirk spread across her face, "I'll see to it that you go missing for a few days, and persuade Itachi that you went out for training."

That was the worst she could do anyways. If she killed him Itachi would for certain find out then she'd be in major trouble. Though who knows what else she could do to him. Kisame sighed in defeat, and his was all ears to what Yuki had to say.

Somewhere further away from the manner, away from all the noise and chaos that Kisame and the others caused. Itachi really couldn't blame it all on one person. Then again, maybe he could. It could go either way. Kisame was the type who liked the destruction and often made a ruckus. Yuki got out of control, not so often anymore, and it was troublesome. Then of course Deidara, damn he just plain out loud and was like Kisame in the sense that he too enjoyed the destruction of things. Itachi's pace was calm through the thicket of foliage, the beautiful lush green forest that often brought the wonderful tranquility.

Suddenly he came to a stop when there was the sparkling clear water. The wind disrupted the water and caused it to ripple. Itachi knelt down on to his knees and stared into the water calmly. The tips of his fingers dipped into the liquid before he cupped some water into his palm and splashed some water upon his face. The water was cold and refreshing. It looked clear and untainted. He enjoyed how serene this area was. It always put him in that untroubled state of his. "Hm."

A thirst was in the back of his throat; his tongue coolly slicked his soft lips. With both hands he dipped them into the crystal clear liquid and took a soft sip from it. Nothing he enjoyed more, to have a few moments of peace. To rest his occupied thoughts.

The elder Uchiha was in some deep thought right now. It seemed to happen every time he encountered his brother. Sasuke had improved more than Itachi thought but it still wasn't good enough yet. The methods he was using probably weren't going to work anymore. He was going to have to use a much stronger method when it would come to the final battle between Sasuke and him. A gentle sigh issued from his lips, he turned away from the pond and brought himself to his feet.

Unfortunately, he could not stay here for too long. Who knows what could happen if he was gone for more than thirty minutes. The elder Uchiha was the control between Kisame, Deidara, and Yuki. He muttered to himself, "I better go back before Deidara decides to cause Yuki to go insane."

She wasn't the only one who went insane because of the clay master. Itachi sauntered his way back to the manner in his usual brooding way.

Deidara looked at the female suspiciously as he was pinned to the wall. Her eyes gave this scrutinizing glare, "Explain to me again what you want to do, un."

A wide grin was spread ear to ear across his face. Did he understand how much he pissed Yuki off? "How many times do I have to fucken repeat myself?!" she began to shout, "Y...you know what." Her finger pressed on to his chest, "Just forget it, I don't need you to help. Kisame and I can 

just do it and to make sure you don't interfere I will lock you in a closet with her hands chained and tied with chakra." She snarled through her teeth.

Just so he won't blow the closet door open if he oh so happened to try and exploded the door open. Deidara sighed and groaned at Yuki as he pushed her off to him and she landed on the floor. "Fine, I'll help," Deidara muttered as he put his hands on his hips.

Yuki smiled then and she trotted out the room, "I thought so." A smirk spread across that face of hers.

Once Yuki left, Deidara frowned and he uttered underneath his breath, "Brat."

It was a few days later and Itachi once again was gone, well, sort of. He was just out in the back inspecting the area to make sure those two men weren't on the prowl near them again. They had attacked unexpectedly last time; they could come at any time again now. Itachi was just taking the normal thorough measures like always. Yuki was looking out the back window and she as watching Itachi move fluidly through the yard. For a moment, she couldn't help but not day dream a little bit and she vigorously shook her head then and she trotted towards the door. Kisame and Deidara stood there. Deidara groaned, "And why are we taking orders from you again, yeah?"

Yuki frowned at him as her hands rested on her hips, her foot tapping impatiently against the carpeted ground, "Because, if I come back with sake in bags Itachi might think there is something up." Yuki didn't drink, "So he won't think anything if you guys come back with some alcohol."

"Oh…yeah…" Deidara looked the other way.

"Now hurry, be back before nightfall." It was already the afternoon.

Kisame and Deidara seemingly sighed at the same time as they walked out of the manner. She licked her bottom lip and she turned around closing the door. Her body pressed against it and she pushed herself off. She was hoping that maybe if Itachi had enough sake that he would be a little loose and let some information slip from past his lips. Yes, it was a conniving thing to do. Obviously she really didn't care. Once Yuki wanted to get to know something she was going to find out about it.

Yuki trotted gently towards the back door. Her hand grasping on to the knob as she pulled the door open, Itachi heard the squeak for the door opening and turned his head to briefly stare at Yuki. Her expressionless look was on him and his head turned over to the side to look back through the grass and shrubs for any clue of those guys that they might be near.

"No luck?" Yuki inquired.

She was approach the elder Uchiha as he was kneeling on his knees. His sharingan eyes thoroughly scanning through the area, "Nothing," Itachi replied.

Yuki then bit her lip gently, "I guess that's a good thing?"

"Yes," He had his hands pushed on the grass as he lifted himself up, "Something else we don't need to be too concerned about for the moment." That stoic expression remained as pressed on his face as ever.

She nodded her head to indicate that she understood what he had been talking about. Those two had been strong… she could win against them and that made her angry. She gritted her teeth tightly and then her hands crossed against her chest tightly. Itachi arched an eyebrow when 

he noticed this. She seemed to be getting upset when she thought about those two. "Yuki," he said seriously.

"Huh?" Yuki snapped out of her choleric state.

Itachi walked slightly past the female and he uttered gently, "Your temper gets in the way. When you let that side take control, it's easy for an experienced fighter to take advantage of that and get the better of you."

The way he made it sound was as if he was insulting her. Itachi never ceased to do that to her. At first it made livid that he said such a thing. It quickly died away and just made her a bit upset. She bit her bottom lip and she nodded her head. There was a lot she still had to overcome and control that insane side of hers. Then harness that and use it towards her strength. That ultimately was her goal over here.

Itachi looked back at her to see she was slightly depressed. His eyes eased slenderly as he turned his head back forward and made his way back into the manner. The female perked up a bit and she quickly followed Itachi like his shadow.

There was a disturbance in the bushes and she turned her head over to the side and looked at the shrubs. They rustled and she narrowed her eyes dangerously once more. It could have been only a mere animal. Like a rabbit or a squirrel. Yuki turned around and she slowly started to the approach it. Her teeth came out and she bit her bottom lip gently. Slowly she was approaching him. Closer and closer as she inched to the shrub, "Ah!" she had a slight shout of surprise.

She turned around and Itachi was already in the kitchen. He watched the female jump back and arched an eyebrow. Her hand went close to the shrub.

Yuki looked back to stare at the window where Itachi was watching her. She looked back at the shrub. Her hands came and she pushed open the lush green leaves. Yuki thinned her lips out slightly as she felt her heart pounding against her chest. Sweat was slowly starting to drip down the side of her face and palms extremely sweaty too. Then as she was right, it was only a mere rabbit. Yuki laughed to herself as she scratched the back of her head. "God damn I'm becoming more paranoid." And she lowered her head.

It was nothing. Yuki got back up with a more at ease mind now. The last thing she wanted was to get attacked and defeated once more. Itachi having to come to her rescue, no… that wasn't cool at all.

The female pushed herself away from the ground and trotted her way towards the living room. Once she got inside of the manner, Itachi didn't feel the presence of Deidara or Kisame in here. He turned his head over to the side and looked at Yuki, asking, "Where did they go?" not that he cared.

"I don't know." She shrugged, "They never tell me anything."

Itachi nodded his head as he trailed his way back down towards the living room. Yuki walked along with him but instead she was sitting herself down near the window and not next to Itachi along the couch. She had a tranquil look on her face as she made it seem she was staring out the window with interesting. The sun was slowly started to dancing behind the mountains. The captivating hues of blues and oranges mixing in the sky, those stars shining brightly it all made Yuki peaceful.

Then from a distant she saw two figure approaching. A wicked smile spread across her face then. Deidara was carrying the bag but with a displeased look on his face. "They're back, Itachi." She calmly said and she turned her head over to the side and looked towards the stoic elder Uchiha.

"I see..." Was his simple response.

Tonight was going to be interesting. She was finally going to find out what was the elder Uchiha's story.


	12. Guilt and aderenanlin

The door creaked as it opened and through the little sliver Yuki saw a blue hand. Most definitely it was Kisame's. The rustling sounds of the plastic bag were loud and very noticeable. The elder Uchiha raised an incredulous brow towards the fish man, "…?" Itachi didn't even have to inquire and already Kisame responded, "We were lacking booze in the house. And I was hoping tonight we could have a little rest and relaxation."

A lot had gone on in the past few days. The chronic feeling of paranoia thick in the air from keeping track of those two mysterious men, the emotions that ran wildly between Yuki and Deidara, and then of course now Itachi's mind was filled with rattling thoughts about his younger brother with the fight that happened not too long ago, "Fine." Itachi replied after a long moment of eerie silence.

Deidara's mouth spread ear to ear in joy, "Alright! We got ourselves a drinking night, un!"

Then he paused for a moment and looked at Yuki, an evil smirk was now across his face. Screw the plan, he thought, I don't want her around.

"What are we gonna do about Yuki? She is certainly too young to drink, yeah?" Deidara questioned.

Yuki's mouth dropped open as Itachi's head was turned away from her. Before Itachi could speak she bellowed out rather loudly, "Don't you even go there you bastard! I'm not that young!" The female had stood up and pointed an accusing finger towards him, "I just hate the way sake tastes. I can stick around if I want to!"

She huffed through her nose. Her expression twisted into all sorts of seditious emotions while Yuki had her arms securely locked against her chest. It wasn't too long before Yuki felt a strong speculative stare. The aura about it had chills race up and down along her back. It wasn't long before her eyes looked back to see Itachi looking at her. Quickly she dropped her head and she sat back down. The outburst could have been worse yes, still she made a scene and it displeased Itachi.

He let his eyes go back up and look towards the blond haired clay master. In his expressionless voice he spoke, "There is no harm in letting her stay."

Kisame chuckled at Deidara's expression. Obviously he was not pleased about that one bit. Yuki almost felt like standing up once more and point a finger at her to mock him. Or at the very least stick her tongue out at him in a very childish way. Yuki didn't do either of them. Itachi would have noticed anyways. "Go set it up on the table." Itachi demanded of the two Akatsuki members.

The elder Uchiha stood and glanced at Yuki. She was better at reading what his eyes said now, "I'll be on my best behavior, Itachi, promise."

She raised her hands in the air to show she wasn't crossing any fingers of hers. The female looked up and smiled rather faintly towards him. Itachi's stoic expression on her and he just turned around and left for the kitchen. Yuki closed her eyes for a moment as she sighed gently. She hoped she wasn't going to feel guilty about this later.

It was a few hours later and Kisame was passed out on the table, drool seeping from the corner of his blue mouth. His shark teeth bared and his eyes were shut tightly. Deidara was on the ground, eagle spread wide. His blond hair was let loose from his high pony tail and scattered all about his form. His expression was very similar to the one Kisame had. Deidara's mouth was spread wide open and there was even more drool spilling out of his mouth. Yuki looked over them 

one more time and she shook her head a little bit. Itachi wasn't as wasted as the others, which was good. Still didn't mean he was quite messed up from the sake he drank. Itachi could speak coherently still and that's all that mattered to her. He was good enough to spill some secrets, "Itachi-san?" she questioned softly.

Itachi looked over her way with a different look on his expression, "Hm?"

And his eyes shook a bit as he looked down, roughly shaking his head as he brought his hand to the top of his brow, "Here let me take you to the living room so you can lie on the couch."

Then she stood up and pulled Itachi over her slightly, his arm hanging over her shoulder and she sauntered her way to the living room. Itachi was a bit heavier then he looked. It must have been the alcohol that made him loose and have his weight feel very similar to dead weight. She bit her bottom lip gently as she slowly spread him across the couch. It seemed Itachi had bit of a head ache so she fluffed some pillows underneath his head and she sat there as she calmly stared at him, "Itachi, can I ask you something?" Yuki cautiously asked.

Itachi just shook his head giving her the go ahead to ask, "Can you tell me about the relationship between you and your brother? What you did to him that made him that way…"

A soft groan escaped the Uchiha's lips and his sharingan eyes had dimmed to an onyx color which made him look so peaceful. A heavy sigh then followed and he started to grumble his story but first stating on how much he cared for his brother, "Sasuke… I loved him. I-" he hiccupped, "couldn't kill him. For a long time the Uchiha clan was looked down upon by the elders of the village. I was a spy; I got information from the village and gave it to my clan. I was a double agent though."

Itachi had taken a quick pause. So far, she could make little sense of his story. She was sure as he went on more she would make sense of his story. He continued, "I was working for the elders of Konohagakure, drawing information for them from my clan. Then… I was given the mission to kill the Uchiha clan. I was supposed to whip them all out. I killed them all, my parents, my girlfriend but I couldn't kill him." Itachi's voice went weak.

Yuki's expression slowly changed then as her brows furrowed into sadness and her lips opened softly as he droned on, "I couldn't pull it through. So I left him alive. I made the village swear the third hokage swear, that they wouldn't lay a finger on my little brother and never tell him this story. Once the third hokage passed away, I came back to the village to remind them that I'm still here and that the same rules applied. I love him too much."

She could feel herself tearing up. Yuki had no idea how soft he really was on the inside, how much he cared for his little brother yet Sasuke didn't know Itachi's adoring affection for him. Her heart trembled and felt her fingers numbing, "Itachi" Yuki expressed breathlessly towards him.

The elder Uchiha then grumbled a little bit more. It looked like because he was lying down that he was about ready to pass out. Her eyes looked down a bit and she sat on the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees, "You really care for him…" he was soft inside.

Really, all this time Yuki was thinking he was tough and heartless and he cared for no one. Basically someone who can truly be called a monster. She couldn't be any more wrong then she was. Her eyes wandered towards him once more and his eyes were slowly starting to shut. He was drifting off to slip and god she did feel horribly guilty now. Yuki turned around once more; she was basically standing on her knees as she was on the side of the couch looking down at Itachi. Those 

feminine eyes eased completely shut and his was drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Her hand came up and it shook was she was reluctant to touch his face. She feared that his eyes were going to pop open and he'd get angry at her, "I'm sorry." She uttered.

Slowly she brought her hand down and touched his face. Her own eyes fluttered to a half lidded state. Right now the look on his face was so serene; she swore she has never seen him look like this. Almost all the time she could see that there was trouble written on his façade? She never knew what it was before but now it was no mystery.

Her beautiful optic judged the features on his face more. His lush obsidian black hair sliding over his slightly paled features. With his perfectly shaped face and what looked like supple lips. Yuki could feel the tips of her fingers become number. Her heart was hammering against her chest and it was beginning to hurt. Her own pale flesh was turning slightly red, am I... blushing? She thought.

In fact she was, the more she was looking at her lips the more she felt her face getting warmer. Itachi's lips looked so tempting. Whatever was going through her mind, she didn't know. Her lips pursed together tightly and slowly she began to descend down towards his lips. Yuki closed her eyes and she was about ready to gently press her lips against his. They lightly brushed against his. An adrenaline seized her body with this slight brush of her lips. She couldn't explain the emotions that were savagely running through her body and it was just caused by this light brush of the lips. If she could get such a pleasurable rush by the light touch of their lips, she could only imagine if she put more pressure.

It didn't take her long to press her lips more on to his. Her hand ran down the side of his smooth face. Fingers tickling along the edge of his face as she just kept her lips pressed on to his. She was lost in bliss and she felt she was on cloud nine.

It didn't last long unfortunately. She quickly realized what she was doing. Yuki roughly pulled herself away. She stumbled back on to her rear end and her hands pressed into the carpet. Her eyes closed and she looked down a bit. Her shaking hands came up towards her lips and she was extremely confused now.

Yuki stood up and quickly paced herself into her room and she sat down on the bed. She mentally started to beat herself up for what she did, "What the hell was I thinking!? No!" she shouted as she slammed her fist on to night stand that was sitting next to her bed.

The wood crumbled into little pieces and she looked at it, and got even more frustrated, "Dammit!"

She let her leg fly into the wall when she went to kick the piece of wood and then dust particles flew everywhere. Yet again she never failed at causing a hole in her wall. She only growled in displeasure. If she continued getting angry, letting her, what she liked to call, wild self out, then she would only end up bringing her room into shambles. She puffed her cheeks out childishly and she sat herself on her bed. She needed better control, once she went off that was it. No longer was she in control but the subconscious part of her that rests in the depths of her mind. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she slowly brought herself down on to the bed. Yuki began to go off into a rather smooth slumber.

When the light flooded into the room and hit the elder Uchiha's face, it has caused him to stir a bit. It was pointless for him to ignore the sun stinging his shut eyes as he tried to ignore it. Those lids were pried open and he felt a horrible headache come about. He couldn't really remember what happened last night. He soon realized the area he was sleeping on was small and compacted. He lifted himself up and looked around; he had fallen asleep on the bed? Now he remembered something small. Yuki had brought him from the kitchen to the couch and the more he tried to remember the more it was blurring up on him.

A soft sigh eased from his lips as he forced his groggy self from the couch. His feet slumped and dragged along the floor as he made his way towards the kitchen. The first thing he saw was he display of cups and sake on the table. Kisame was on the floor with the chair on top of his body. Drool oozed from the sides of his mouth, causing a small puddle to form on the kitchen floor. He couldn't help but make a face of pure disgust. As he moved a bit further into the kitchen he saw Deidara too was on the floor but there was no chair on top of him. The same idiotic look was on his face. Itachi just heaved another sigh and turned away.

He had searched through the medicine cabinets a bit to seek what he was looking for. A small white bottle appeared as he pushed some more aside, it read Aspirin. Those elegant digits of his pulled the bottle out, popped he cap open, and placed two pills in the palm of his hands. The sound of water coming from the faucet seemed to be ringing his ears when he turned it on. The pills in Itachi's were quickly tossed into his mouth as he leant over a bit and took a sip from the faucet. Once he felt the pills go down he had turned the water off and looked around. Yuki was nowhere to be seen down here. She must have been upstairs in her room or something.

He wandered up the steps and down the hall. He paused in front of her door to knock on it. There was no answer from here so he had knocked on it again. Of course, once again there was no answer. This made him wrinkle his brows and a frown deepened upon his facial features. He opened the door and saw a hole in the wall and her night stand in small wooden pieces. One couldn't tell the anger he was feeling right now, but it quickly diminished when he looked up and saw Yuki standing on her balcony. The door was slightly open and she seemed to be staring off into space.

Itachi's stride took him closer and closer to the glass window sliding door. Yuki quickly turned around when she heard the door sliding open and she had seen a single hand of his push it open. The female also took notice to how his were still those deep onyx color. A rather clueless and naïve look was on her face until she muttered gently, "Yes Itachi?" came her gentle voice.

The Uchiha male cleared his throat as he fully stepped on to the balcony and he stared out to the vast beauty, "I was just looking for you is all."

With a bit of a disappointed voice she said, "Made sure I didn't run off?"

Itachi didn't respond to that. Yuki's eyes wandered over to the side as half her body was leaning over the railing, "You feeling okay?" she questioned.

He merely nodded his head at her, not giving her a worded response. Yuki was almost hesitant to ask if he remembered anything at all last night. She didn't want to make herself seem suspicious in any way. Well, she was just going to have to bite the bullet on this one then, "Do you remember anything…?"

"Not exactly, what did happen…?" Itachi was curious to know.

In the back of his mind something told him he had spilt some personal things to Yuki. He just wasn't sure cause his memory was clouded about last night. Yuki on the other hand felt relieved that Itachi didn't remember because she was feeling extremely guilty about it. "Deidara and Kisame passed out from drinking too much. You were kind of on the verge of doing so yourself. I thought it'd be more comfortable for you to sleep on the couch instead of the table, so I carried you to the couch." She lied.

"Hm," Itachi responded.

Then he was curious, why were the things in her room broken? "What did you do last night?" he eyes gestured towards her room.

A cold sweat dripped down Yuki's back as her hands tightened a bit on the railing. She had accounted for Itachi asking her on that. God dammit, why did I have to go and break those things? Wait, I know, cause I wasn't fucken thinking! Yuki had scolded herself in her mind.

She was going to have to lie again, "I…uh… stubbed my toe!"

Itachi had then arched an incredulous brow at her. She broke her nightstand and put a hole into the wall because she merely stubbed her toe? That sounded awfully suspicious if you asked him. He pushed himself away from the railing and turned around. He was going to walk off without a sound, "Wait!" Yuki called.

Itachi turned and gave her a side glance, "What?"

Nervously Yuki began to shift her feet around on the ground, "I-I was wondering if… if maybe you could… help me train? You know, to control myself so I can become a better fighter." She looked up hopefully.

Yesterday even Itachi had told her that it was that insanity inside of her that was holding her back from being strong. Yes, sometimes fighting like a berserker had a great advantage over even the strongest of warriors. Only the ones who truly knew how to fight with both mind and body could overcome her. Even if she won them all fighting like she does now, she still would get severe injuries. Severe injures then meant that she would be rendered useless for a while.

The elder Uchiha was about to decline, but quickly remember his whole mission was to tame Yuki. He's had a lot of success with her so far but there were many things still that needed working. Pein made it very specific that he wanted her tamed and wanted her to know how to control that darker side of her because then she would be incredibly strong, and over all stronger then the sanin. Then she would be his tool in receiving the nine tails and the eight tails, "Whenever you want to do it." Itachi responded.

Yuki felt her heart fumble against her chest again, much like last night she did when she had kissed Itachi. The thought wanted to make her face go red and then punch herself for ever doing such a stupid thing, "Alright then! I was kind of hoping maybe we could start tomorrow early in the morning? Like around dawn-ish."

Those coal eyes were on her to let her know he acknowledged her speaking to him. His head just turned back forward and made his way out the room pausing one more time, "And clean this up."

He didn't ask nicely nor did he say please, it was a demand. Yuki still despised being demanded around like the way he did. She was going to get upset and snap back but she held herself back for two reasons. Reason number one, Itachi would then in return get upset with her 

and in whatever way, would make sure she paid the price for disobeying him like that. Number two, the one that really hit home with her now was that she knew even as he was being heartless, he really wasn't. Itachi was just troubled in his thoughts but he wasn't the man to express his emotions in anyway.

A soft sigh eased from her lips as her hands tightened against the trimming of the door, "Yes Itachi…"

* * *

Haha! Yuki kissed Itachi, hm. Well it seems finally something is going somewhere, which is a good thing. Though Itachi doesn't know what she did or what he said last night and Yuki just doesn't think its right what she did!

Anyway please review 333 I've been good and I've wrote like three chapters in a small amount of time. lol.


	13. Gentle Lie

Training session was over for the most part. Yuki was sitting up against the tree, eyes lowered on to the patchy grass. Spring was soon to be over as all the flowers were off from the trees and nothing but the leaves remained. It was extremely warm outside, not exactly good for training. Her hands clutched gently on to the grass beneath her as she sank lower to rest. Itachi didn't know how to take it easy on her. It proved to be extremely difficult not to go insane on the battle field. "...Itachi...?" she asked softly as the female worked to get herself up.

The emotionless Uchiha turned around and locked his gaze on Yuki. She had spoke his name in a pacific manner. He watched the green strands of her hair fall in front of her face as he continued to look down at her, "What?" he asked.

His voice was harsher than he had intended to make it. Yuki had cringed at that, thinking she made him upset, "How did I do... today?" Itachi noted her cautious voice.

Every since that day where he couldn't remember much, Yuki has been acting differently. It was strange just to see her suddenly try to change her ways. It made the elder brother of the Uchiha clan grow rather...leery. Itachi cleared his throat, turning his back to her once more, "You did.... okay..."

"Oh..." Yuki mumbled.

Her head turned down and her fists bunched up tightly at that. A moment later she pushed herself to get up on her feet. She had taken the time to brush the dirt off her clothes. Bits of dry blood clumped to her face as her eyes stared up towards him. "What did I do wrong?" she inquired.

Itachi didn't say anything. He remained silent not bothering to answer her. He knew before that if he didn't answer he questions she would grow furious with him. In a way, you could say he was testing her. Testing to see if she was truly trying to change who she was. He heard Yuki let out a heavy sigh and her foot stepping closer to him. "Hey!" she angrily shouted.

Yuki gasped and quickly stepped back. She had to rebuff herself, "Itachi, please answer me." she firmly spoke.

Don't get her wrong, Yuki wasn't going to play the part of a female and be afraid of him. Yet, she wasn't going to fall victim into her anger and snap. She wanted Itachi that even though she was changing she still wasn't going to take shit from him. She watched Itachi's head lower but could not see the expression on his face at all. What the hell was he thinking?

And as Yuki stood behind him, he slightly turned is head to the side. On the outside his expression of course was that impassive one, but on the inside he was very amused, "I can't say. You still need a lot of improvement, Yuki."

Itachi started walking away, leaving Yuki standing there slight dumbfounded. The last words of his deep and somehow cruel voice rang in her ears, "You can't expect to improve in one day."

That was completely true.

----------

_Half is reason, Half is Failure_

It was closer to night time then Itachi had suspected. When he got back the manor, he didn't realize how low the sun was sitting until he was out in the balcony. He was leaning against the wooden rail, sharingan eyes staring out towards the lush foliage. A soft sigh of boredom escaped his lips. Yet, he couldn't stand to be inside any of the rooms because he could here the constant bickering of Deidara and Kisame. It was vital that he had this critical thinking time because there was tugging at his mind. It was sharp and he couldn't put his finger on it.

All he knew it had to do something about the other day. The day he got drunk off his rocker and couldn't remember shit about it. But, what was it that he couldn't remember? An irritated sigh escaped his lips and he lowered his head into the palm of his hand. He grit his teeth.

Alright, he remembers he started to drink the sake. He could recall Yuki coming and taking him out of the kitchen because Deidara and Kisame were knocked stone cold and passed out on the kitchen floor. Once in a while he could reminisce on the sounds of vomiting. Yet, there was not much he could recollect after Yuki took him away to the couch. That's where it drew its blank.

Itachi couldn't exactly interrogate Deidara or Kisame about because they were passed out inside the kitchen. He already figured that if he dared question Yuki about it that she wouldn't tell him. Itachi could always force it from her, but it could only bring horribly consequences in result.

So... what could he do?

Whatever it was, there wasn't much time for him to think about it because he heard Yuki come through the door to probably be greeted by the smashing sounds of Kisame and Deidara...

It was only moments later he heard a scolding female voice. Yuki was probably fermented about what she was coming home too. There was no probably, there was a boisterous boom and a bang. Itachi descended the stairs, her words would becoming clearer "Ugh, you two can be so fucken immature sometimes, I swear."

Yuki had stomped Kisame back into the wall with her hand and she led him tightly there. Underneath her crushing pressure of her foot was Deidara groaning in pain, "All day and all night all you two do is bicker, bicker bicker!"

Kisame smirked, "I suggest you let go of me." he whispered.

Yuki kept her own voice as a whisper, "Why? I know Itachi is behind me watching but he's obviously not doing anything about it."

"I can tell him something you don't want to find out." A chuckle soon came.

Yuki immediately let go and she growled lightly. He got her there. Fucken black mail! Yuki let a forced smile to creep across her pale face, "Please stop fighting..."

Yuki started walking away from Itachi. The elder Uchiha looked suspiciously towards Yuki as she was walking away. His eyes glanced at Deidara and Kisame as they were brushing themselves off from probably what was one of the most embarrassing moments ever. A man always despised having his pride wounded. Even Uchiha Itachi. With a heavy sigh, Itachi walked off to go see where in the world Yuki was going.

As Itachi walked away, Deidara sat there against the wall looking at both of them stepping away. There was something cooking in that brain of his. A little plan to get Yuki to behave more around him and not just Itachi. It wasn't fair he was the only one who got treated with respect around here. Deidara was the man who didn't exactly like the Uchiha clan very much. All of them were a bunch of pompous bastards with over egotistical minds. The blond made his way down the hall. "Where do you think your going!?" Kisame called out.

"None of your business, sharky," Deidara retorted.

-----

Yuki was outside sitting in the grass peacefully. Well, as peaceful as her mind was going to allow her. What Deidara said back there pissed her off to no ends. How could she have not think about how they could use this against her. A heavy sigh eased from her lips. She was about to wander off into another world. Something stopped her though. It was Itachi.

He didn't care if she was bugged by the fact he randomly came and sat by her. Nothing she could do to stop it. Yuki's firm stare was on him, "Why didn't you stop me?" she asked.

Itachi merely turned his head off towards the side to look at her, "I'm tired of their bickering too."

A smart ass tone just oozed from his voice. Yuki let out a huff of air and a light smirk to gently spread across her face, "Why did you let go?"

That's when the smart ass was gone and that's when interrogation came about his aura. She felt a cold sweat slowly beginning to from on the back of her neck. Yuki could feel every inch of the baby hairs of the back of her neck stand on end. It didn't take long for Yuki to come up with a believable lie, "I thought you would get mad at me."

An awkward silence came between them. At least for Yuki anyways. Itachi didn't mind silence so this wasn't as perplexing to him as it was to her. Then without another word, he just up and left. Yuki was utterly baffled by the Uchiha's behavior. Never before has she seen a man as weird as he was. Yuki huffed and she placed her hands underneath her chin and continued to stare blankly into the woods as she had been doing before Itachi's interruption.

The door had not opened or closed since Itachi got up from beside her. He hasn't stepped a foot closer to that door when he was on the patio. His intense crimson eyes were on her back. The plan had been to see her reason of letting them go had anything to do with why her demeanor would suddenly, if not drastically, change around him. To coolly ask her that question as if it was nothing was something smart of him. What was a ninja if they could not be stealthy? Not only that but he wasn't the one to openly share things with other people. Almost everything inside of his mind remained in his mind.

Itachi was going to figure this out one way or another. Yuki couldn't expect him to believe that she had a change of heart in one night without their being a deep meaning behind it. That didn't seem to be her character. With one last irritating thought of the subject, he turned and moved back inside of the manor to see if he could have a possible chance of relaxing.

* * *

AN- my god it has been forever hasn't it? I'm sorry about that. Writers block really got a choke hold of me. It was like only yesterday actually that I started typing this chapter up. I wanted it to be longer but I decided to treat you guys with something. Hopefully I can get the next chapter up fast. I hope I can make it longer too. So for now, please enjoy this as much as you can. At least its something. I promise next chapter will be better! please review it! I want some feedback. No flames, Constructive critisism!


	14. Bee Line

Darkness, it consumes all and hides the dangers and the enemy. It's where evil lies and make plans to destroy what holds peace and tranquility. Sometimes, it also holds a life of misery and sadness, a place where none can escape. In the darkness, is where four ominous figures gathered to discuss the plan...

Trees surrounded this area, heavily guarding this place of unknown. "You two failed." a elegant voice obviously stated

The man with electric purple eyes stared at this blurred figure standing before him, slightly peeved by the words that were spoken to him. Yet, his partner whom was beside him was even more furious and irritated with these other two members. "You don't think we know that!?" Ocean blue eyes filled with absolute fury.

"Yuudai, Calm down." Ryuu went and put his hand out in front of him.

Yuudai stuck out his bottom lip but glaring at the two who remained hidden in the depths of the cave they resided in for the moment. "We have failed, and the boss has made sure that we were aware of this and that is why he is sending you two in, obviously and yet the boss as requested us to give you two a few pointers."

"Heh, you two give us pointers?" this was not the eloquent voice, it was definitely more husky.

Yuudai snapped again, "Why don't you two just shut the fuck up!? Unless you want to die of course."

"Anyways, its wise you do this because if you fail you two won't be any different from our own failure So listen well." Ryuu kept his composer and held on to his partner so he wouldn't physically lash out.

A pair of neon green eyes and another pair of glowing crimson eyes were set on Ryuu and Yuudai. Ryuu stood coolly in the front of these silhouettes. Yuudai was seriously wondering how Ryuu could keep his composer in front of these no good low lives. That's why when it came to things like this that dealt with people that Yuudai had a distaste for, Ryuu normally did all the talking. "Well get on with it." the delicate voice changed into a rather annoying pitch.

Ryuu sighed in irritation, "Don't underestimate the girl. She may seem like nothing but when angered if you don't approach it right, she could easily take both of you down. Make sure you get her while she is alone. Itachi is a big nuisance in himself but now two other members from the Akatsuki are there. So don't be hasty and attack straight on if they are there."

Silence filled the atmosphere as the four figures stood there. Tensions were high enough to cut a knife through them, "Also, before you two go, scope the area out and see what's up. We attacked not too long ago so they may still be on the alert for us."

The elder Uchiha may be guarding her like a hound dog. After all, they were assaulted not too long ago with much of an explanation. "Remember, the boss is going to chew your guy's asses out if you fail as well." Ryuu taunted.

This made Yuudai smirk broadly. He absolutely loved it when Ryuu became a sadistic bastard and taunted people. The man with blue eyes chuckled and cocked his head to the side, "Knowing you guys though, I don't think they'll follow the guidelines. You guys will be in hot water soon enough."

The deep husky voice let out an amused cackle, "I believe it was the boss who favors us over you guys. He expects failure maybe not from Ryuu but you as his partner, well... that speaks all in itself."

Yuudai flinched in anger and just as his fist raised up to meet across the jaw of the fairly larger silhouette, Ryuu quickly grabbed his fist, "Enough Yuudai. We're not here to fight today. We're here to give information and leave."

"Fine," Yuudai retorted.

Ryuu turned around, grabbing Yuudai with him, "Fair well and....good luck." a light chuckle and they were gone.

When the puff of smoke dispersed, the large stature turned to the smaller frame and asked, "What's the plan?"

Delicate voice speaking, "Simple. We head over there by tomorrow night and we study the schedule for two weeks and once we got the basic way they run their day to day lives, once the little wench is alone we'll attack."

"Flawless," the husky voice responded.

Both went and dashed out into the darkness to disappear in the moonlight night.

* * *

A few weeks later Yuki was outside enjoying the warmth of the sun in her straw hat with cloth hanging down to protect her neck from the sun burning her pastel flesh and her black cloak over. Yes, she was burning up in the black cloak and she felt like she was going to die of dehydration but she didn't want to burn. Unfortunately, being pale meant one could easily burn or tan in the sun and she was one of those people who burned. Plus, why risk the chances of getting skin cancer anyways?

There was something stirring within the shadows. Something the female could not sense or detect. The masked auras floating around in the darkness were watching Yuki. They have been for the past couple of weeks. "I'm growing bored of this game." came a harsh whisper of the deep husky voice.

"Ssh." the elegant voice silently scolded the other, as not to alert Yuki.

Yet, things began quite unfortunate. Yuki heard the harsh ssh, and got her curious. Her brow furrow into a serious look as she slowly began to approach the bushes. Someone is in the bushes, I know it. Yuki thought.

Slowly and cautiously she inched closer to the lush green bushes. She was on her guard just in case someone who was not friendly decided to come assaulting her from the bushes. The last time something happened, two men were here and they were after her, but not only her. Apparently they wanted Itachi too. The reason... well, that still remained unclear to them, the specific details.

Yuki started to sense the presence of people. She couldn't put her finger on how many or who they were but it might not be something she would tangle with herself. It's been a few weeks from those attacks and there was no word of their second strike or anything and that's what the elder Uchiha had the blond headed clay master doing.

The female steadily reached for the weapon in her pouch. In her sudden cat like reflexes, she pounced in the bush on to the ground to meet grass and branches snapping against her cloak and slightly hitting her face. Yuki's hat had fallen off and to her dismay all she saw was a small rabbit, "Stupid thing." she growled at the small harmless animal.

She could feel her anger boiling up inside. Yuki felt like a complete and utter idiot for getting her panties all up in a bunch over nothing. Something was tugging at the back of her mind though, telling her otherwise of these weird sensations that were bolting through her body. An irritated sigh came from her as she looked around the area. Yuki pulled herself out of the bush, taking her hat back and placing it on. She played with her bottom lip for a moment, staring into the bushes still expecting something other than a damn rabbit to be in there. Another sigh and she walked off into the manner, "I'll go look for Itachi..."

He wasn't around at the moment, and to be on the safe side she was going to get somebody back here. Yuki knew she wasn't developed enough to fight on her own without letting her insanity and anger taking control. That was both her strength and weakness and that's the part of her the Akatsuki wanted but she was not willing to give. Despite what she was, Yuki still had her own free will.

The door closed and that's when all was safe...

"You fucken idiot!" Yelled the eloquent voice, "I can't believe you almost gave away our cover!"

The deeper one responded, "I-I'm sorry! I'm just growing impatient of waiting here. I want to fight, I want to take her head to the boss! We've been doing nothing but standing around and watching. I want some damn action!"

"Well now we're going to have to wait longer thanks to you. Everyone was gone today and it would have been a perfect moment to strike but you ruined it!" the scolding continued from the delicate voice.

The larger figured gave a humph of disappointment, "Sorry..."

"Well, its over and done with. The Uchiha is going to be back soon so we need to get out of here."

With those words spoken, they disappeared into the darkness to return when the time would serve right for their convenience.

A few hours later, Yuki was tugging Itachi towards the back, serious voice when she spoke to him, "I'm not kidding. I know it wasn't my mind, something was there."

Deidara and Kisame were following close behind Itachi who was being forced out into the back through the kitchen door. It was early evening, the sun was almost completing its set behind the mountains, "You sure it just wasn't a stupid animal?" Deidara questioned.

Yuki could hear the doubt that was in his voice, "I'm positive!"

The clay master then chuckled, "Only fools are positive."

Before Yuki could get the chance to snap at the blond, Itachi interrupted by speaking coolly, "It's not wise to over look this, Deidara. But then again you don't have the mental capacity to logically think about these things."

Itachi pulled away from Yuki and he walked out further towards the bushes to inspect, to find any clues. Kisame was chuckling at the remark that Deidara was just given and Yuki was too for a moment. She stopped when she began to think, Did... Itachi just possibly defend me?

Thinking about something like that sent chills racing down the back of her spine. Her breathing slowed down just a little and it made her look down a little bit more to think. Her eyes were drawn up towards him when he began to speak, "Deidara."

Itachi gave the sternest look to him, "I need you to scout the area out."

They were in the middle of no where in this small town, quite a few blocks away from the main part of it. The Uchiha's gaze went towards his tall blue partner, "Kisame I need you to go and look around town but not thoroughly. Wait until tomorrow before we do a full scale search."

"Sure." Kisame sounded a little doubtful himself but he would listen to Itachi.

Both went off on their search as Itachi stood there, "Aren't you going to do anything?" Yuki inquired.

"No, just in case this is the same situation from a few weeks ago, I need to stay around you." His monotone voice said it all.

The eldest Uchiha brother heard her whisper her understandability as he began to walk back towards the manor. "Yuki, come inside. It might not be safe for you."

If someone was there though and it was the same people as last time, they might have done the smart thing and fled the area to not be spotted. If they were smart they would know not to attack with three Akatsuki at Yuki's side. They'd clearly be outmatched. This he had already considered, which is why he made the decision for Kisame to go looking around town but not quite purposely. Kisame wasn't extremely well at stealthiness and they could easily be caught on to.

Itachi's crimson eyes locked on to Yuki's form as she passed underneath him to get into the kitchen. Not one moment passed where he looked away. So much was running through his mind at the moment, but when was his mind ever clear? Itachi wandered towards the faucet to get himself a glass of water, "Do you think it's them?" Yuki asked.

Itachi responded, "I can't be entirely sure."

Wasn't much of an answer if he knew her well enough by now, she despised vague answers. Yuki should know enough about him though to realize that those were the kind of answers he would give out. Yuki would attempt to see if she could get him to explain more to her, "What do you mean you can't be entirely sure?"

Once more, he dodged her tactics to get him to talk. It only made him wonder more, "Think about it."

The Uchiha heard her sigh in heaviness. He turned to look at her to see that she had slumped her head on the table. With one sip of the water, this metallic taste was filled in his mouth. A slight look of disgust could be found on his face but it was hardly visible. Itachi went to leave the kitchen, "Whatever you do, don't leave this manor. I better not find you outside."

Yuki peered up, having her hand set underneath her chin, "I know" she responded.

With that, he was gone to do whatever he was going to do.

* * *

Another few weeks pass and there were no suspicious signs around town. There was none around the house and everything seemed relatively quiet. For now at least. Itachi made sure everyday that there was nothing creeping around the area that would be after Yuki. Often the Uchiha would send Deidara out to scout further from the manor. He couldn't quite be spotted by the commoners of this village if he was so up high and there were no shinobi around besides for them so of course nothing was going to be checked out.

Today, after those few weeks, Yuki was once again sitting here alone, doing nothing. She was terribly bored. It wasn't too long ago that she had stopped training. Her personally, she felt that she was doing rather well. She was making great progress and even Itachi complimented her. There was something different about him though. Yuki could swear on her life that he was trying to find out something about her... that she knew. "What could it be..."

Now that she had some peace and quite to kind of sit around and think, well it dawned on her, "Is it that day? It's been a little over a month... does he suspect me?" she bit her bottom lip.

Not only did she get information out of him that probably should have not been spoken, but she kissed him to. He had no idea, it was her secret... but it might not be for much longer. It has been a while since that day as well.. and she couldn't help but not find herself to grow more fond of him. Something was developing inside of her that she has never felt before. She had an idea what it was but she was refusing it to be honest.

"Having problems dear?" a voice cooed out.

That made Yuki jump from her seat into a defensive position, "Did I... hear something?" she asked herself.

The sound had came from all directions. It could have been her mind, the voice that often haunts her but has been suppressing back a lot lately. Or at least she thought that was the case. "You can't see me, can you?" it taunted Yuki.

Yuki's voice was calm, "Come out..."

The elegant voice she heard was now followed after a deep laugh that sounded that from a dying crow and then it spoke, "Find us..."

Yuki's eyes closed, they were obviously showing their chakra so she could spot them. A few hand seals and her hands planted on to the ground, the earth shook. A large rupture came from the ground, rocks flying towards the west direction. Dust wad flying everywhere, making it a little difficult to see right now. In the fury of the dust storm she backed herself up to the door of the manor, ready to run in the house if need be.

Once the dust settled, she saw the two figures. They looked familiar, at least their attire did. Yuki's brow's furrowed. Her raspy voice asked, "Who are you...?"

No details could be seen from these two new figures, body shapes couldn't be seen but the dramatic difference between height was noticeable. And all Yuki saw on the smaller one's face was a smirk.


	15. Thoughtless

**AN: gee, I hope you guys enjoy ths chapter. I'm not so good at battle scenes lol. Please review. 3**

* * *

A flash of light and Yuki was blinded, her heart was racing against her chest as she felt the urgent calls of her mind losing grip of the tiny bit of sanity she had. Her body was thrown down on the patio and just before the kunai flew into her arm she rolled over and jumped back on to her feet. Yuki dashed for the middle of the large yard once again and she panted. They had suddenly attacked her but Yuki was able to keep herself from getting too injured. There were a few scrapes and bruises along her but no fatal wounds just yet, "You never answered my question!" Yuki bellowed in anger.

The smaller figure just merely laughed at her statement. Yet, it did not answer her back. It was difficult to tell the gender with faces and bodies being covered up by large black cloaks, "Answer me!" Yuki screeched.

She propelled herself into the air and pulled the kunai from her pouch. With three precise throws, she had knocked off the hat. When landing on the ground Yuki was surprised to see a woman standing before her. It seemed her hair was long but it was kept in a neat bun, her eyes were glowing a neon green and a red stare was from the much larger figure, "You're so impatient dear."

The woman charged towards her getting ready to throw a punch. Yuki's hand snapped up and grabbed a hold of it to block it. Another hand came up and now they were struggling to push each other off. Yuki's teeth grit as she glared at her, "Maybe if you would tell me who you were-!" she found the strength in her to twirl her around and toss her away, "I wouldn't be so damn impatient!"

Leaves began to shake once her body, or rather her feet, slammed against the tree. She rebounded Yuki's throw, "Ugh, so barbaric." she commented with a look of disgust.

Yuki was being pushed to the edge"Answer me dammit!"

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes, "Fine, if you keep persisting. My name is Nimura Riekotsu." her hands placed on her hips, "That big lug over there is Niikura Ryonosuke."

His hands came and tossed the hat that was blocking Yuki's view of him. He wasn't large around really, he was just really tall. His eyes were blood red and they almost reminded Yuki of Itachi's sharingan eyes. The only real difference was the mere fact what was read behind those eyes. The man before her, Ryonosuke, had pure evil in his eyes. Itachi's just were confused and filled with what Yuki thought was lonlieness. Though she had no right to judge Itachi because no one ever knew what he was thinking. She only figured from that one night that she does regret, "Why are you guys after me?" Yuki questioned.

Riekotsu grinned, "Please, honey, don't be so conceited."

What was this strange dialect that she was speaking in? Honey, dear... what's next?! Needless to say the way she spoke bothered Yuki. "It's not just YOU we are after. We want the the Akatsuki dead too. But what a way to damper Pein's plans when we kill you."

Somehow, Yuki could not manage to keep a straight face after that comment. Yuki laughed loudly as she wiped the gathering tears at her eyes. "And you're the one calling me conceited?"

Suddenly her demeanor changed as a more devilish look was glistening in her eyes, "Riekotsu, you're the one acting with such arrogance." Yuki's raspy voice had went a octave lower, more demonic, "I'll rip your fucken face off!"

As she was about to charge, Yuki stopped herself. She placed her hands over her head and made noises of struggling, "No... I won't have you interrupting this battle. My sanity will be under my control." she was gritting her teeth. Her head throbbing like no other. It took a few moments more for her to stop.

There was silence amongst the group now. Yuki's head wad bowed and slowly she lifted it up, "Sorry about that..."

Ryonosuke stepped forward before his much smaller partner. He ripped the black cloak off clean from his body. Such a sadistic smile was on that face. Something that was even more blood thirsty than Kisame's grin. His narrowed eyes were locked on Yuki, not once leaving her and watching all her movements, "Can I, Riekotsu?" he asked quite eagerly.

She responded, "Heh, why not? But don't take it too long. You always play with your prey too much."

"Thanks Ri-chan." he responded.

His large body then was thrown at Yuki. She had been taken aback, not exactly expecting him to use such brute force. His body collided with the ground and Yuki just barely dodging the attack. Her heart was pounding against her chest once more. Yuki took this chance to do a couple of hand signs and slam her hands on to the ground. Thanks to Itachi, she has learned a few more jutsu. The ground began to rumble and then the earth below him projected up high. Ryonosuke jumped to avoid any further damage to his body. His body then twisted and did a flip as he came back down but heading her way. She had seen it before he completed it, but a sword was thrusted in her direction. Yuki had quickly moved to the side. Once he landed he swept the sword to the side. Yuki then let out a yelp.

Blood was now flowing down her arm. The large man was able to inflict a wound on her. This didn't please Yuki. She had to try and not shed as much blood knowing if she saw too much of the crimson liquid she would not be able to hold her sanity back, "Huh... you'll pay for that." Yuki lightly growled.

It was Yuki's turn now, she was going to get the son of bitch. She charged forward with the intention to kill. Which is often what Itachi told her that she should do, that that intention to kill someone. Yuki wasn't afraid either, through her whole life she's murdered a bunch of people even if she had not been in the "right mind." Right before it looked like she was going to attack head on, she jumped up over him. A few more hand signs played and then a burst of flames in a week shot from her mouth. With the fire causing a haze, Yuki took out kunai and tossed them into the pit of fire. With a wind element jutsu, he blew the fire away and the kunai back at her. She blocked them effortlessly, knowing he would do that. The earth beneath his feet began to shake. Spikes from the ground shot up. Ryonosuke dodged most of them but one got him in the leg.

Blood was oozing down his skin, dampening his pant leg. He looked down at it for a moment and then when he looked back up, she was gone. "Where..." he said shocked.

"Right here you fool." Yuki snarled.

Her fist then slammed right into his face, making him step back a little. He rubbed his sore cheek then, "You're not bad."

Yuki then retorted, "That's what you get for underestimating me."

A chuckle was emitting from his lips, "I haven't had this much fun in a long time. I guess the wait for this attack was worth it."

"After you screwed up our first attempt." Riekotsu interjected.

Ryonosuke looked back and tossed Riekotsu an evil glare. He said something inaudible but stopped talking after that. He went to look at Yuki once more. "Anyways, as I was about to say... you haven't even gone insane yet. Who's been training you?"

"Itachi." Yuki replied, "A tough trainer yes but very helpful. I'm not going to lose this fight." she claimed calmly.

Ryonosuke then snorted, "Damn that Ryuu, he said that she would have lost it by now."

He fixed himself to get ready for another attack, "But I'll be changing that very quickly now."

"I'd like to see you try!" Yuki shouted.

Laughter spilled from his lips and a smirk came across his face then. He rolled his head to the side a little bit. In a blink of an eye he had disappeared. This shocked Yuki to no end because she could not sense where he was coming from. Ryonosuke flashed in front of Yuki. His big fist was flying towards her face, and she moved her head back to doge his fist. Another flash and he was gone. He appeared behind her and attempted to kick her. She jumped up, swooped around and attempted to hit him back. Yet, he disappeared once again. He was going way to fast for her eye, she couldn't spot him. If she couldn't see him then she couldn't attempt to attack him. There was only one way she was going to be stopping his speed demon attacks. She started running the other way. If she could just make it to the sea of trees, she could camouflage herself. "I don't think so!" Ryonosuke called out.

He appeared before her and sent his fist forward. She swayed to the side and went to try and run forward again. Once more, he prevented her from doing that by coming in front of her to block her from going any further. He was sending a fury of attacks her way. Each time she stepped back, avoiding it the best she could. No where in those series of his attacks, could she squeeze in her own counter attack. This was bad. If she couldn't find a way out or a way to stop him from hitting her, she was screwed.

An idea then popped into her head. She contained the smug smirk that wanted to cross her face. Ryonosuke just kept going after her in his attack mode. All the while she was performing hand seals behind her back, something she taught herself. A burst of fire came crashing down right in front of him. This distracted him long enough for her to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Ryonosuke was surprised that she was gone. His head turned this way and that, to see if he could find her, "Damn that wench!" he cursed.

Riekotsu could not believe what just happened. She growled in anger and she turned her head away from him and rolled her eyes. "You dumb ass." she said angrily, "She's in the damn trees over there, go find her!"

Ryonosuke turned and gave her the evil glare, "I figured as much!"

He moved his way into the thicket of foliage and he looked around a moment, wondering where exactly the hell she was. This was getting more and more irritating for him. Riekotsu followed behind, scowling at his back, "You're going to ruin this for us again! I can't believe you!"

Ryonosuke turned around and shot his partner an ominous stare, "Can't you just shut the fuck up for a minute?"

"What!?" Riekotsu was shocked.

"You heard me, .!" Ryonosuke retorted.

Riekotsu clutched her fists tightly together, "Don't you dare tell me what to do! Or rather, how dare you give me such lip! It'll be your fault this time you lost her! It was your fault the first time too because you were too damn eager and almost gave away our cover! You're such an incompetent fool! Why boss has me with you, I have no idea! You are absolutely the WORST partner ever!"

"Well you know what, bitch? You're annoying and completely whiny. You don't know when yo shut up and you can't seem to let me fight without comments coming from the peanut gallery!" Ryonosuke snarled.

It almost seemed like they completely forgot what was going on at the moment. There was a heated battle and they were arguing, "Huh! And this is coming from the man who is practically as dumb as a rock!" Riekotsu sneered.

"Gah, just shut up!" he called out, "And let me do this, okay!?"

Riekotsu tried to calm down a bit "Fine."

Ryonosuke turned around to roll his eyes and he started stomping through the trees. Next thing you know, the large man in strength and muscle started ripping trees out of the very ground. He was crashing them everywhere, causing even more trees to fall because of this. Riekotsu almost got knocked out by him swinging it like it was some feather. He was being completely reckless, once again and to no surprise to Riekotsu, "You idiot! No, no, no, no, no!!!!!" she screeched at the top of her lungs.

The annoying sounds rung in Ryonosuke's ear, causing him to cringe just a little bit, "Oi, what's you problem now!?"

Her hands came up to a head and did the motion as if he was slow in the head, "Are you fucken crazy you idiot?! You're causing too much of a ruckus! Have you ever though of the possibility that the Uchiha is near by? Huh?! Of course not!"

Ryonosuke gritted his teeth, "Well stop interrupting me and let me hurry and finish this up them, okay?!"

"Er! Fine then, go ahead! Just hurry your ass up!" Riekotsu decided that there was no point now, there was just way too much that was at risk at the moment.

Yuki couldn't believe this. The opening was just perfect for her. She had to finish this before she lost control. She was extremely grateful towards Itachi right now. This little trick that was up her sleeves was going to save her ass, and by the time Itachi came home he would be able to handle the rest. After all, she has yet to completely gain control over that other half of hers. Her hands formed into the hand signs, she shouted out as she jumped from the tree hand slamming on the ground, "Pay attention!"

She witnessed as their eyes went wide and the earth began to tremor violently. A smirk was brought across her face as she witnessed their look of shock and frantic wanting to escape. Her blood boiled in a delicious way upon the sight. Slowly the earth began to split open. Little spits of fire were were seeping from the cracks. The wider the split open, the more fire came out. Ryonosuke and Riekotsu were trying their best to to struggle away. Only to find that there were frozen in the very spots they stood at. Finally, with one last violent earthquake, fire come roaring from the ground. All you could hear was their agonizing screams as the fire burned. Yuki's smug look was on her face still as she went to walk back towards the manner.

"Well, I'm thankful Itachi taught me that genjutsu..." she said softly to herself.

With him having the sharingan, he was the master at genjutsu. He could tell if it was a fake, he could get himself out of it because the technique would only be at grade level. Yet the genjutsu he taught her was closed to an S ranked level type of genjutsu so she felt really proud of herself right now. She went to the patio and she rested on there. Yuki felt very warn out and her stomach growled because she had worked quite the appetite during the battle. "Huh..." she closed her eyes.

She would rest for a few moments, needing to catch her breath as well. So, it was over like that? Well, it was good. She didn't need Itachi's help this time. He did not come to her rescue like he had done last time when those goons decided to attack. Yuki still failed to comprehend what they really wanted from her. Or why they wanted her dead so much. This was all becoming a little confusing if you asked her.

In her silence she sat. Something quite disturbing was still in the air. It was making her sick to her stomach. Yuki was not sure what this feeling was. She bit her lip as she stared out towards the trees. To her dismay she saw a large shadow emerging from the trees, "What?!" she shouted, eyes wide with fear.

"how is that even possible! I executed that genjutsu perfectly!" Yuki's cry if displeasure was quite obvious.

* * *

Some place further away from the manor, in the town where Itachi, Deidara, and Kisame were at, there was a loud rumbling noise from the far off distance. Itachi turned his head to the side, a few bags within hand all containing food, "Something is going on over there..."

There were trees falling from where there place of temporary dwelling. A worry was deep inside him. Was She okay? He didn't show it, "Deidara." Itachi coolly commanded.

The blond pouted, "Do we have t-"

Before the clay master could finish his sentence, Itachi tossed him a rather dirty look and had Deidara shut up. A sigh escaped his lips and he rolled his eyes, "Fine, transportation coming right up."

First, they had to make their way out of town. They were trying not to draw attention, they had to be discrete.

The three S classed ranked criminals made their way out of the town, but dropping the bag of groceries along the way. It hindered their movements too much and they had to get there as fast as possible. I hope nothing horrible is happening there... Itachi's thoughts went crazy and he wasn't sure why...


	16. Awaken

"Can't this thing go faster?" Itachi was quite annoyed.

Deiedara was complaining. The elder Uchiha brother was getting on his nerves, "Why are you so worried about Yuki, she should be fine."

The flapping wings of the clay bird was blatant in the ears of the Akatsuki. Wind blew threw Itachi's hair, making some strands whip his pale face. Kisame looked over, wondering why Itachi was freaking out so bad despite the fact the outside demeanor showed no motion. The shark hybrid has hung out with him for too long to not know when he was emotional. He could just tell by the posture of his body. It seemed anxious. The way his hands clutched tightly inside of his sleeves, how tall his posture was, peering over the head of the bird. He'd give anything to read what was going on in that mind of his though.

Itachi had a feeling this was going to happen. Why didn't he follow his instinct. It would have been best, the leader was going to be pissed if Yuki died. A moment before he was wondering why he was feeling so worried but he remembered, his mission. She was apart of the great big plan, nothing bad could happen to her. Absolutely nothing.

* * *

The perfect autumn evening was now ruined. There was a perfect sunset in the sky, with those beautiful array of hues that always danced so vividly in the sky when the ball of fire was setting behind the mountains. Ending a perfect day, with the perfect sunset. This is how it usually was for common civilians of any land or great hidden villages. Not over here in in this peaceful forest. "How!?" Yuki cried out again.

She couldn't believe her eyes. They should have been on the ground caught in her genjutsu, at least until Itachi showed up. Ryonosuke's thunderous laughter roared through the forest. He went on for a good five minutes. He was indulging on the look of Yuki's face. "Oh my god, you should see your face right now. It's hilarious. You were so damned sure of that weak little genjutsu of yours! Now look, here I am standing unscathed. Yuki, you have put up a fight more than I really expect." and he kept on laughing.

"_He' laughing at you..."_ a voice rung through her head, _"He's making fun of your strength. He doubts your abilities. Succumb to me child, LET ME OUT!" _

Once again her head was throbbing. It felt like someone shot a bullet into her head. Her blood pressure was spiking, her pulse was racing. She could hear every beat of it thumping in her ear. It got to the point she fell to the ground and started screaming in pain, "No! I will not let you! I will not let you! Stay away!"

"Do it now!" Riekotsu shrieked out.

Ryonosuke grinned, "Gotcha"

Both of them charged forward, taking advantage of the moment she was extremely close to losing it. They just needed to push it just a little bit further, one more drop and that bucket was going to spill over. Riekotsu and Ryonosuke went to slam there fists down but she dodged quickly, "STAY AWAY!!" Yuki's voice was changing.

As she went to run off, far away from here, to collect herself... she found herself against the tree. Yuki was having difficulties breathing. Ryonosuke's large palm pressed against her throat, the other one kept slamming into her stomach. Eventually blood started to pull from the corner of her mouth and she was shouting in pain. "stop it!!" she roared loudly, once again that raspy demonic voice was showing through.

With all her might between one of his punches she swung her legs up and kicked him in the chest. Now she was on top, her smaller fists ramming into his face over and over again. Yuki was now practically mutilating his face. "I'm going to rip your heart of your chest." a crooked smile going across her face

"The question is though..." her tongue slipped from past her lips as she stared at her nails, "Should I just shove my hand right through your chest, or should I use my kunai." she grinned wider.

When Yuki felt him try to move she tensed and grabbed his throat. "Don't think so, for that, I think I'll use my hand."

From the collar shirt of his neck, she tore it off. Her fingers pressed against his chest. The moment blood began to appear in the area of where her fingernails were pressing into, she was suddenly tackled off of him, "Thank god Riekotsu...." Ryonosuke sat up wiping the sweat from his face.

The woman looked down at Yuki, "Hah, poor, poor Yuki. When you let that other personality of yours show, everything you know as a ninja slips from that brain. All you can think about is blood and killing. So, now your trapped and your coming with me."

Yuki was thrashing, desperately trying to get out of this bind. Yet, her grip moved to a chakra grip. She wasn't giving up, she would keep going until she ran out of energy. She growled and gurgled and saliva became to dribble from her mouth. Her nails were clawing at her legs, going through her clothing and ripping through that first layer of skin. That pale flesh was becoming red with irritation and raising around the open wounds. "Haha, your hilarious."

"Riekotsu..." Ryonosuke looked around suspiciously, "They're coming."

Riekotsu gritted her teeth, "Shit, okay then lets go."

"What about the brat though? She's being to loud they'll be able to hunt her down alone just by her screaming." Ryonosuke informed.

Riekotsu grinned, "Easy."

As Yuki was struggling deeply to get out of this vice grip. Suddenly everything was going black. The sight that was going through her eyes blurred and she blacked out. "That should stop her screaming for a while, now, let's go." Riekotsu said.

Ryonosuke was proud to have Riekotsu was his partner. She definitely knew how to get the things done. They were the perfect combination. Ryonosuke was the bronze and Riekotsu was the brains. He did the full force fighting and Riekotsu helped him fight the right way. Off the pair went, deep into the forest and back to their headquarters. That would show Ryuu and Yuudai who in fact was the better team.

* * *

What he feared most came true. Upon coming on to the manor Yuki was now gone. He heard her screams on their way here and when they stopped, he knew something was up. Itachi clutched his fists but yet, he remained completely composed. He turned around and his ominous gaze turned towards Deidara. "Send a few dozen birds to scout of for any trails and such from where they might be and your aerial search. Kisame, you do the searching on ground."

Ugh, and he was going to have to inform the leader about this. It was no good. Either way he was going to have to find out because Itachi might have to request for back up. The Uchiha knew not to underestimate who they were dealing with over here. It was his fault to think that whoever they were, they were not going to come back. Yuki should have still been with him. All of this could have been avoided if he wasn't so careless. He already knew what Pein was going to say because it was something he was beating himself about. Itachi walked inside the manor to go deal with this.

A few hours later, Itachi was staring blankly to the table. Just thinking back about the conversation that too moments ago playing back like a insane slide show made him extremely upset. _"Could you please repeat that?" Pein wasn't taking Itachi seriously._

_The fact that he wasn't being taken serious was absurd. Pein should know better that Itachi was not one to joke around. "I said Yuki was taken." Itachi was inscrutable despite the fact he knew Pein was about to explode. "Itachi I'm quite disappointed in you! You of all people let her out of your grasp?! I gave you this mission for a reason, I let you do it for a reason!"_

_Actually, if Itachi remembered correctly he was forced to do this mission. It wasn't his choice to do any of this for her or for Pein. Itachi stayed silent, but only wished that he could roll his eyes and Pein's utter stupidity. How can Pein have such an incompetent view of the Uchiha? If there is anything __that could crawl underneath Itachi's skin was being looked down upon. It was a big superiority complex he had. "Pein, shut up." Itachi spoke abruptly as Pein had been ranting. "I'm going to find her, and get her back. But if I need back up send it to me. That's all." Itachi shut off the hollow gram and he sat back in his seat. Kisame came trudging through the door._ Thoughts were running through his head and Deidara hasn't come back. Kisame said he had no leads, so he didn't know what he was going to do. A calm sigh escaped his lips as he went to relax. Of course, the moment he went to relax his body tensed up and his eyes darted to the side. There was someone standing at the back door. The black cloak caught his eye. Itachi opened the door, "What brings you here?"

A deep ocean blue stare was directed harshly towards Itachi. He brought down his hood to show those straight dark brown locks of hair and a lip piercing placed so beautifully on his lush bottom lip. "..." he was silent.

Itachi arched an eyebrow, "Well?"

Sharingan optic giving a cold hearted stare. Chills raced down Yuudai's spine. Being this up close to him without fighting him was... intimidating. "Let's get this straight before I continue, I wasn't here."

"Depends what information your going to tell me." his spoke monotonously

Yuudai had a grin spread ear to ear, "About Yuki."

This indeed catch his attention. By the look of Itachi's face though, he wanted Yuudai to give more information because this just seemed to suspicious. "Look, I hate Riekotsu and Ryonosuke. I can't let them win, or else I'll never hear the end of it from then and the constant ridicule by our leader."

"Go on." was Itachi's simple response.

"Alright, they took Yuki that way. They'll be traveling underground and blocking their chakra and their scent as much as possible. The best way to know your correctly on their trail is they'll leave a small fresh trail of upturned ground. You really have to look for it. Also, watch out for genjutsu traps but... I hardly doubt you'll have anything to worry about it." Yuudai spoke to Itachi looking like some criminal who was trying to hide from the police and not get caught.

"Hm, alright." was his reply.

On a normal note, Itachi would not believe a word he was speaking. The hate in his eyes though was strong. The look of pure disgust that was on his facade also was another wonderful clue that it was all true. That was the only explanation for believing the enemy. Yuudai stepped back, "I'm counting on you... but this is the only time that I'll ever help you because next time I plan on having her body in my arms for you to see..." and with that his disappeared in a burst of clouds and smokes.

He was going to be getting Yuki back weather they liked it or not. Sitting outside, a he pulled out a scroll and activated it. The typical biting of the thumb to draw thew blood and performing a few hand seal he sent out a the signal for them to head back.

Within minutes they were before the Uchiha, "I know where she is." Itachi spoke.

"Alright let's hurry up and get her." Deidara sighed irritably.

Kisame gave a toothy green, "Awe, warming up to Yuki are we?"

Deidara grumbled as he started going up on his clay bird. He also hated Kisame a lot too. He was always such a smug little bastard. It was completely unfair honestly. Deidara blew some blond pieces of hair away from his face and flew off. "I'm going ahead!" he called up from above.

Itachi walked forward and away from Kisame, "Come on, let's go."

The shark man sighed and followed after Itachi like a lost little puppy. They were quite a pair to see, weren't they? Itachi being much shorter in comparison to the tall blue fish man. The Uchiha also looking way more attractive and appealing to the eye than Kisame. Itachi actually being able to blend in better than Kisame. Bringing Kisame along on certain missions was horrible because he didn't know how to blend in, in any way, shape, and or form.

"Hey, Itachi." the Uchiha caught Kisame's raspy voice, "I see something."

Itachi muttered in a smooth deep tone"Good."

Where Kisame pointed with his samehada, Itachi walked over. He carefully examined the place. Whoever stole Yuki was here just a little under an hour ago. If they hurried fast enough they could easily catch up to the kidnappers. "We have our lead, hurry up and don't slow me down. Both of you."

The three of them dashed off deep into the thicket of the forest. Nothing was going to get in there way. Itachi would stealthy burn down any foliage to hinder them.


	17. What is Left?

Night was drawing closer. The hues were beginning to blend and make many vibrant colors in the sky. Followed by the darkening of the celestial heavens. The stars would be dancing across the sky soon. As it got darker, the more time Itachi knew they didn't have. It was a race against the clock before he knew they were in trouble. Darting through the dark green foliage, there was a very subtle trail left behind. Just like what Yuudai had said. At first, Itachi hadn't been too sure if it was okay to trust him but now there was no doubt. "Are you following the trail Kisame?" he asked.

Itachi's cold scarlet eyes glanced at the corner. The shark man's itty bitty fish eyes darted around. "Yes... but I don't sense anything yet." He looked up towards Deidara who was in the air. The flapping of the clay birds wings could be heard, "What about you!?"

Deidara's scope on his eye adjusting many times as he brought his hands to the zoom in on it. He picked up far greater details from area's further ahead that Itachi and Kisame have not covered yet. There was nothing of course but maybe them being closer to the ground they'd be able to pick up chakra senses much better. "Nothing up here!" Deidara called back down. A frown was spread across his face. His bottom lip much more pout. As much as he disliked this, he knew there was no resting until they got the brat back.

Slowly that sun was beginning to set behind the mountain. It was getting darker. Suddenly Kisame stopped, "What is it?"

The blue man pursed his lips over to the side as he looked around for a moment, "Samehada is picking up something."

The sword on his back was moving lightly. A strong collection of chakra's were nearby. That naturally meant they were drawing closer, they must be getting on their tail soon. "They are not that far ahead."

Itachi didn't even need to speak, he darted forward quickly. So they weren't far behind? Good, that's good. He was pleased about that. The Uchiha brother wasn't going to need Pein's help at all. As long as he could do this himself then his pride would no longer be on the edge. If there was anything Itachi hated about talking to Pein about this was admitting that he might need back up. That just left such a horrible, bitter taste on his mouth. So revolting that it could probably make him throw up. Superiority complex much? Quite.

Samehada was wriggling more the faster they went. It was sending an adrenaline rush through his body. Kisame was so ready to fight. It has been a good long while since he has bashed somebody's face into a bloody pulp and shave them with his samehada. He could say his sword was just as blood thirsty as he was. Itachi could see this in Kisame, there was definitely no hiding it. Itachi could let him have this thrill. As destructive as he was, it didn't matter this time because there was no one tracking him down, there was no one to hide from. Then again, this could be a much deeper meaning behind it all. Who knows?

Kisame shouted "Heheheh.... THERE!!!"

He moved right ahead of Itachi, almost pushing him out of the way. Itachi frowned deeply at this but there wasn't too much he could do. "Watch where your going." he muttered deeply underneath his breath.

The fish man raised his sword up high and he smashed it down into the ground. Next thing you know there was the sound of quite a womanly scream and then the eruption of earth. Then the clay bird swooped down as Deidara came down and dropped on of his bombs down. There was a loud explosion and Itachi and Kisame braced themselves. Itachi growled, "Idiot! Remember you can't kill them because they have Yuki! Wait until we get her back."

Deidara heard the vicious tone in his voice. He rolled his blue eyes and hoped down on to the ground. The dust was settling, and the fallen trees finished crashing. There were three blurred figures in the dust. One of them being held in the arms of a much larger figure. It was them for sure. "Uchiha Itachi."

The woman's voice was quite seductive. She stepped in closer after the gilings completely settled. She stared Itachi up and down, a little smile spreading across her face, "Uchiha's are handsome. I guess they weren't lying when they said that."

As she attempted to take even a step closer, Itachi stepped back. He narrowed his eyes down at her. Was she attempting to... seduce him? How pathetic. "You will give Yuki back right now. Your pathetic attempts to seduce me are meaningless. You're inadequate attempts are laughable."

Riekotsu seemed pretty upset at Itachi's denial towards her. She was the second female in the organization and she was most tantalizing one. Her brows furrowed deeply and she stepped closer to him and pressed her index finger on him and stared him straight in his sharingan eyes. "You're **not **getting the girl back"

Itachi turned around for a moment and walked behind Deidara and Kisame. "You two know what to do."

Before they left earlier, Itachi had gone over the game plan to get her back. It simply was Deidara and Kisame fight and when the moment would permit it, Itachi would snatch Yuki. They'd quickly retreat and head back to the manner, pack up, and find a new place to reside. Kisame darted forward with a great lunge. He swung his sword at the large guy. Ryonosuke jumped back with Yuki in his arms. "huh, you're not getting her back that easily." he said.

After setting her down by a near by tree, he performed a few hand seals, too quick for Kisame to come and attack him and a barrier formed around Yuki's body. She was still knocked out, they knocked her out good. Itachi was in the background watching Deidara in front of the girl named Riekotsu. He smirked a bit and flung some of his blond strands of his hair away from his face. Riekotsu frowned in disgust. "You're revolting compared to Uchiha over there. Blond's were never my cup of tea anyways. They're too stupid." her lips then curled in that disgust still.

At first, he was upset, very upset that she refereed to him as stupid, "WHAT, STUPID?!" he shouted with anger.

He felt Itachi's burning eyes on the back of him. It was like he knew what the Uchiha was thinking. Calm down. With a simple twitch of his eye, and calm breath, the clay master was able to cool down. That's when a frown went across his face, "You have horrible taste in men, un."

Riekotsu's high pitched laughter rung through Deidara's ears like nails scratching on a chalk board. His left eye twitched then and he stepped back a little bit. He took some clay from his pouch, hand started munching on the clay, "He has not artistic ability, art is what makes someone beautiful."

The little bird came out of his hand and it flew in the sky, over her her head. Riekotsu took out a kunai and tossed it at the bird. The blade pierced through the bird and it exploded. Riekotsu grinned, "It's gonna have to take a lot more than a simple explosive bird to get to me."

Deidara rolled his eyes. He already had a plan in his mind that would work. As long as that big blue lug wouldn't get in his way. He didn't know how to swing his sword around properly. Kisame swept his sword down and hit him right in the shoulders. He pulled the sword back, ripping through his skin. Ryonosuke let out a loud deep yelp of pain. He pulled away quickly and he felt drained, "What the fuck...?"

_Did... did his sword take my chakra away? _Ryonosuke thought in surprise.

He glared at the blue shark man. Ryonosuke went to charge forward, moving to the side dodging the sword. As he thought he missed Kisame's Samehada, he felt something going into his back. Tearing and ripping at the skin brutally. Blood was pouring and seeping out. When Kisame was pulling his sword back, the blades protruding out contintously hacking away at the flesh of Ryonosuke. He howled out in pain, not finding it possible to move.

During the time that her partner was occupied, she was going to do her best in getitng rid of this moronic little beast, and run off with Yuki. Sure they'd be on her tail again, but that honestly was worth the risk If Riekotsu could make it to the headquarters than she is really in the clearing then. Deidara watched as she went and slid her hand underneath the black cloak she was wearing. What was she pulling out? "Heh."

A smirk came across her face. A smug on, the ones that Deidara hated. "What is that look for?" he asked with a small tone of anger in his voice.

Suddenly she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. There was no chakra trace of hers and he looked around. "Ah!"

He swiftly dodged the blade that was about to go right through his heart. He swung his leg up and kicked her right in the face. Riekotsu was flying into the tree but rebounded quickly and darted right back towards Deidara. The clay master through his arms out and a million of his clay master pieces came soaring out of his sleeves. Explosions erupted right in her face. "Tch." she flinched."Nearly blew my beautiful face off."

That was laughable. There she was talking about beauty? She had horrible taste in men, and didn't like him because he was blond and probably thought his art was irrelevant too. "Beautiful my ass." he spat to the side.

"Don't get so cocky!" she retorted

Right forward she went and punched him in the chest, but... she felt her hand sink into his chest. "What the..."

It was wet and gross, and she felt something slide over along her hand even with the cloth of his Akatsuki cloak in the way. "ew!!" she shrieked. "What is that?!"

A bigger grin spread across his face. He just stood there and her sword swiped away at his red clouded cloak. She saw a large, red tongue protruding from his chest. She freaked out and jumped back in shock. "Oh my god what the fuck is that thing!?" she continued to yelp.

"Another mouth to help create my art." he grinned ear to ear.

It almost seemed tears began to well in Riekotsu's eyes "Ugh! That's truly repulsive!"

"I'll tell you what's repulsive, that over there" Deidara was referring to Kisame.

Itachi was in the tree's, watching carefully over the fight. Those two really knew how to hold out. All Kisame had to do was wear Ryonosuke down... and Deidara was the one left to trick the female. Could he pull this off. Well... the Uchiha wasn't really sure to be honest but he couldn't be _that _idiotic, could he? After all he was in the Akatsuki. Then again, look at Tobi. Or rather, what he made himself out to be. _It's almost time, _Itachi thought.

Riekotsu kept hearing Ryonosuke's shouts of agony. It was enough to cloud her judgment, her mind, and that's what lead to the biggest mistake of her life. She hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings, or to what the clay master was up to, but she saw his fingers go into the seal and she gasped. "What...?"

There were this clay spiders attached to her clothes. She tried swiping them off of her. They weren't coming off! They were sticking and not coming off, what the fuck!? She looked at Deidara. He smirked, "Well now, seems the dumb blond has outsmarted you, huh?" he said.

She growled angrily at him. How could she have let this... this... idiot outsmart her?! Ryonosuke stopped and he looked at Riekotsu in shock. Itachi stepped out of the trees and he looked at her. Calm expression on his face, fingers brushing dark locks of his hair away from his face, "You'll hand over Yuki if you know what's good for you. Wrong move, and Deidara will detonate his bombs-"

"Art!" Deidara interrupted

He glared deeply at Deidara and heaved, "So hand her over."

Riekotsu didn't know what to do, "Ryonosuke, just take her! Head to headquarters! We just HAVE to get her there."

"Buh-"

She growled "DO IT!!!"

"O-Okay!" Ryonosuke stuttered back.

He went to grab for the girl but then he saw two pairs of red eyes staring deeply into his soul. That stare alone could melt his face off, and all of his organs would implode and die a very slow and very painful death. "I don't think so."

With one swift kick Ryonosuke flew back several feet. His chakra was worn thin so the barrier that was around the female with emerald green locks dispersed. Itachi scooped her up into his arms and had her tossed over her shoulders. She was heavily wounded, they would have to patch her up before they made their move. "Let's go." Itachi's emotionless voice added a very cold like tension in the air.

"Alright." Kisame frowned, "And I was just having fun to." he continued to complain

Deidara chuckled and he started walking off. Riekotsu was quick to remove her cloak and she shouted out, "This isn't the last you'll see of us! I swear by it!"

Itachi turned his head back. He knew better, he knew they meant it. But for now, it was not time to worry about them. "Deidara, you know what to do." his voice as emotionless as that dull look in his eyes.

Deidara mumbled, "Yeah I know."

Taking the clay back out from his pouch, out came that giant bird once more. Deidara was first to get on, then Itachi and afterward Kisame. The Uchiha gently set Yuki down. She was caked in blood. He better wash this off before she woke up. It would freak her out. He looked around, there were no pieces of cloth. "Deidara."

"Hm?" he grumbled.

Itachi didn't even look at him but had the nerve to monotonously ask the clay master, "Give me a piece of your sleeve."

"Why?" Deidara grit his teeth.

Itachi retorted, "Just do it."

"Why?!" he then growled.

The elder Uchiha brother shot him a bawdy look. Deidara sighed heavily and tore of his Akatsuki sleeve, _why doesn't he ask Kisame? _He thought bitterly.

Hastily, the blond handed over the part of his sleeve. Itachi took it right out o his hands, not even thanking the clay master. He just took out a canteen of water and poured it onto the cloth. He started wiping the blood off of her. Sure he could have asked Deidara or Kisame to do this for him, but, If she woke up then she'd probably end up pushing the either of them off of the bird, leading to the ultimate doom. Speaking of her waking up, her eyes slowly started to open. "Yuki..."

"Nnn..." she mumbled.

Yuki's eyelids began to flutter open. She heard a sweet voice in her ears. It was soft, deep, but... no emotions. Of course, it was relaxing. "Yuki." he called her name out again.

Finally her eyes shot open and she sat up quickly too quickly, she almost fell off. Itachi pulled her back down on to her back and looked at her firmly. "Careful."

Kisame gave a strange look... he was being softer than usually. Sure he was still tossing her around like a rag doll, but he knew Itachi could do so much worse. "Where am I?" her eyes were still wide looking around, "Where are those bastards?!" she grit her teeth in anger.

It seemed she remembered the fight, how unfortunate. "We're heading back to the mannor, fix you up, and we're leaving."

"Why?" Yuki questioned.

There was no answer from Itachi. Kisame answered her though, "Those people who got you know where we are, so we have to find a new place to stay."

Understandable. Yuki was beating herself up now. She couldn't do it again. She did so well at first and she thought she had them but in the end two on one was not fair. Especially when she was still trying to overcome her inner demons still. Yuki had a long way to go. She didn't want to wait. Yuki was the most impatient person ever. Something else she had to work on too. Her eyes stared down gently, and looked the other way.

Itachi noticed how she turned away from everybody. She must have been thinking about the fight. She must have been feeling like shit right now. Was Itachi going to make her feel better? No, that wasn't his job. Not like there was anything he could say anyways. If Yuki was expecting some sort of comfort, she wasn't going to get it.


	18. Breathing in sulfur

**AN: Hello all! here is the 18th installment of Sin's Remedy. There isn't much to say about this chapter really but it took longer than expected to get it out because my computer crashed for the millionth time and lost what I had started on this before. It was a pain in the ass to re-write it so I hope you guys enjoy it. Review, please? I appreciate it. Oh, and for those who have been reading the story up to this point, check out chapter one again. I re-wrote it. ;]**

**Once again, REVIEW PLEASE. I love reviews the motivate me to write more and I have such an interesting plot line from here on out so, stick around. :]**

* * *

It was so late at night now. Late enough for the sun slowly starting to rise. The dark night sky was lightning up as they reached towards the manner. As soon as the large clay bird touched ground, Yuki hoped off. "Pack up." Itachi spoke.

Sharingan eyes watched her movement as she walked back in. He was sure she heard what he told her to do. But he couldn't help this overwhelming feeling that was stuck in the depths of his chest. Her being upset somehow didn't seem to sit right with him. Despite this upsetting feeling it did not show. "You guys as well, finish packing up and then we have to get out of here as soon as possible. So don't laze around."

Deidara and Kisame noted the strict stare he was giving them. The both of them did not speak a word to him and quickly dashed off inside to go pack up. This left the elder Uchiha alone. A light breeze brushed through dark tendrils of his hair. After the breezed past he brushed his fingers through his black locks. At the end of the chaotic situation earlier, there was finally piece. But for how long was the question. More troubling thoughts for the elder Uchiha. Such thoughts he cannot think of right now. It was time to go inside.

Upon entering the manner, he heard the sounds of shuffling inside. Everyone was getting ready to leave. He was walking through the dark halls. The only light to flood inside was the one from the living room. At the very end of the hallway was Yuki's room. With a careful ear he was listening for her movement. Dead silence came from her room. Until he heard a crashing sound. There she went again. That temper of hers was lost and who knew was going on inside. Only God. Slowly Itachi approached her room. He leaned in to hear what was happening. It seemed nothing else because once again it fell dead silent. Itachi knocked on the door, "Yuki?" his cool voice called out.

Another shuffle was heard inside of the room, she yelled out "Go away!"

There wasn't any point in telling Itachi to go away. If there was a concerning matter respect was almost tossed out the window, "I'm coming in." he warned.

Yuki continued to protest, "No!"

A creaky door met his ears, the sound almost made him cringe. Surprsingly the room wasn't completely destroyed. A broken vase and a hole in the wall had been the only damage. Unlike the last time she decided to destroy the room, everything had been left in a cluttered mess. "Didn't I tell you to go away?" the girl spoke quite bitterly.

Itachi's cold gaze turned away from her, face ever so serious. "Do you know what I think?" he said.

Chills raced down Yuki's spine. She could have answered but she was actually at a loss for words. Whether she said yes or not something cruel was going to come pass his lips. Itachi waited patiently for her answer. The entire time, not once did her eyes gaze into his deep scarlet gaze. "What do you think?" Yuki's voice was very low, and very soft.

Suddenly, voice filled with malice, "I told you, you can't become stronger in a short amount of time. You're an idiot for thinking that."

Unfortunately, that was not the reason why she was upset. The true reason she was upset was that she lost control. Yuki had been so good with that other self of hers, that when she finally took over it was unbearable. It was maddening, "No, you don't get it!"

Itachi was almost taken aback by her outburst, "It's not that I'm upset about. I've explained it to you before, what's wrong with me! I need to get in control, its... its angering! You just don't get it! No one will EVER get it. My temper gets the better of me and then _she _takes control. I don't want you to come in and save me every time I get into trouble. Augh!"

A smack of flesh was made, and there was a pained groan, it came from Yuki. She was about to punch another whole in the wall. Itachi's quick reflexes had stopped her from doing so. He was going to speak but the moment both of their gazes caught, complete silence came. Something was strange as he was holding on to her wrist. "Calm down..." he spoke softly.

Yuki felt powerless in his grip. Even if she attempted to move her hand out of his vice grip, she wouldn't be able to. Sweat gathered at the top of her forehead. Itachi watched as it slowly beaded down the side of her face. His own heart had a deep heavy beat to it. What an awkward moment between them. After realizing how weird it was, for the both of them, he let go. His back turned to her and made his way towards the door. "Finish packing, we'll be leaving in a moment."

Those were the last words she was left with. Complete shock ran through her body as she felt really cold on the inside now.

The sun was threatening to rise of the mountains. Light was beginning to filter through the dark sky on the side of the mountains. A slight chill was in the air, but the group traveling in the skies on a large clay bird were not bothered by this. At the head of the bird, Deidara was keeping an eye out for something they could possibly dwell in for now. The people after Yuki were going to keep pestering them as long as they knew where they were located at. Moving to a different location was a must. Thankfully Deidara and Kisame realized this instead of complaining. Nothing more than what he hated really.

Cool morning air was relaxing as it brushed gently across his hair, splashing on to his skin. Deidara kept his cloak close to his body and it seemed Yuki and Kisame weren't quite bothered with the slight chill. Impatience grew around the shark hybrid though. Sharp teeth bared he growled, "Have you found anything yet?"

"Pft," Deidara hadn't even bothered with turning to glance at Kisame, "It's kind of hard looking for any signs of buildings in a vast sea of trees, yeah?" such a sarcastic tone of voice. A tone that Kisame didn't appreciate coming from someone else.

"You have a scope, why in the world can't you find a place? Hmph." Yuki sneered gently.

Immediately the blond had sent a malicious glare towards Yuki. How dare she sit there with such a smug little look on her face. It just boiled more anger up inside of Deidara. His teeth went grit and he mumbled, "I don't see you up here helping."

Yuki said rather smugly, "Because Itachi asked you to do it."

Dammit, he wished he could go and choke her to death. Yuki was so damn annoying! "Why you little-"

"Deidara" A monotone voice interrupted.

Blue eyes directed toward Itachi, who's eyes were boring into his soul like none other. Deidara mouth went shut. Rather tightly in fact. He turned around to face back to the front. His fingers messing with the button to zoom in. There was something in the deep sea of foliage and trees. "Hm." he hummed, "I think there is something down below."

"Well then, take us lower."

What a sarcastic little brat Itachi was. Deidara frowned once more as he was slowly bringing the bird to a safe height. The Uchiha was the first to get up and jump off. Next was Kisame and then Yuki. As she was getting ready jump she turned to stare at him. Looking back, she jumped right on down. There was a big puff of smoke and through those dusty clouds Deidara was the last to emerge. "Good job." Kisame slapped Deidara on the back, hard.

The clay master lurched forward almost losing his balance. "Oof, big lug."

"What as that?"

Deidara looked away, "Nothing."

Yuki was glancing at the front of the cottage. It was run and beat down. There were spider webs everywhere, dust filled the place. It was worn down and would it be a even decent place to reside in? This was going to a real bummer. That's what happened when you lived in a place that was so fancy and had electricity, "This place looks so old and dirty."

Itachi opened the door only to have dust fly on top of his head. His face scrunched a little bit as he shooed the rest of the dirt away. Hands brushed away the spider webs that lined the doorway. Inside wasn't terribly bad. There was just a lot of cleaning up that had to be done. "Dusty." Deidara muttered underneath his breath.

Yuki was quick to walk off down the small narrow hallway and she stopped. The girl looked up and noticed there were lights built into the ceiling, "Whoever lived here had electricity. So, there should be a line to power it on somewhere around here."

Only a few lights were were placed around the house. "Kisame, go find a way to see if you can get the lights working."

"Alright, on it." Kisame responded.

Samehada was set down against the wall. Kisame lumbered out of the cottage. Right behind him the door slammed shut. "Deidara, go out and catch us something to eat."

"Un," he grunted and also left.

Itachi cringed a bit once the door was slammed shut once again. If this continued the door would be knocked off its own hinges. This left Yuki and Itachi alone now. Both of them were expecting how durable the small humble cottage was going to be. "No cleaning supplies." Yuki spoke more so to herself.

The more Itachi observed her behavior, the more he got to understand what she was really like. Yuki was a mix of a mature child, if that made sense. She needed a lot of tending to. A lot of problems she needed to get over, he had to help her get over. Yuki has improved a lot from when he first was assigned this mission. The sounds of a cloth rummaging he turned around once more. Yuki had guided her large black cloak over her head and it fit nice and loose and hung around about to the top of her knees. The hat over her head disguised her face and she walked towards the door, totally ignoring the hard gaze he was giving her, "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I have to go find the nearest town to get cleaning supplies. There is absolutely no way I'm going to live in this filth and have to comb the dust out of my hair every morning." the entire time she did not once glance at him. It... it felt weird.

Considering what happened this morning she couldn't really stare at him. They were so close and she could remember the prickling sensation in her skin as his warm breath wafted across her face. And of course, his lips. How she could remember they way they felt against hers when she had laid that kiss upon him when he was passed out. Thinking about it made her look away from him all that much more. "What are you doing?" she asked as her eyes just laid at his feet.

"Not letting you go alone," was his response, "You may be disguised but I'd be a fool to let you go by yourself."

Yuki frowned a little bit, she couldn't offend him by saying that can't go. She would be basically calling him a fool pretty much. A sigh escaped her lips and she was walking towards the door, "Alright then let's go."

The Uchiha could sense her hesitance. As much as she has warmed up to him, she still proves to act a little sketchy. That was no good. Pein wanted to make sure that she would be able to cooperate and work with the other Akatsuki members besides for him. Who knew this would take so long. It's been several months since after they have captured her. What he didn't realize is that there was something drawing him in closer more than he would like. Of course, there was something keeping him at bay as well. Both Itachi and Yuki walked out the door without telling Deidara and Kisame where they were going.

The sun was quite apparent as it was setting down to its late after noon position. Kisame and Deidara came in, very beat. The shark man was able to get the electricity going in the cottage and Deidara had brought back several fish he caught with some berries he found and picked, "Heh, I was beginning to think that you fell in the river and dragged off,"

Deidara snorted, "you only wish."

That was true. Taking a look over he noticed Itachi wasn't here, neither was their little friend. "Hey, where is Itachi?" Deidara was the first to ask.

"I don't know, they're obviously not here." Kisame then rolled his eyes.

Deidara let out a loud huff, "Dammit."

Well all he could do was go put the fish in the fridge because Deidara had already taken the liberty to gut the fish so they would be ready to eat immediately. Kisame had made the mistake of sitting on the couch and of course dust went flying everywhere. His nose crinkled lightly as the little particles invaded inside of his nose. The blond had caught his disgust in the dust when Kisame plopped down so in his little evil mind there was something cooking up. Slowly Deidara made his pace towards the couch. With one movement he also plopped right down next to the shark man causing more dust to fly everywhere. "God dammit, Deidara!" Kisame shouted.

The clay master had blared out in a loud laughter. "Ha!"

Something moved outside that made both of them fall eerily silent. They looked at each other for a moment and Deidara had this worried look on his face. The chakra he felt was all too familiar and he didn't like that. It moved closer to the door and there was...giggling? "Oh god..." Deidara whispered.

More giggling, "please, no." the look of distraught was on his face.

"What's your problem?" Kisame inquired as he gave Deidara the stare, as if he were crazy.

There was no reason for the shark man to ask. Within that second the door busted down and a very loud annoying voice rang through the air, "Sempai!"

A man with an orange swirled mask came bouncing towards Deidara and latched himself on. The blond groaned as he turned his head away, "Tobi," he began to growl, "Get. Off. Of. Me."

With one good shove he was able to pull him off and he landed on his back said. It was like trying to pry a tick off. "What are you doing here, un?"

"Awe, don't be so sad Sempai! You should be happy I'm here! Pein said I should come along too because that crazy lady needs to get used to more people and said I was perfect to come along!" Tobi clapped his hands together.

Deidara's eyes wandered off to the side, "Oi."

Another pain in the ass to deal with. Tobi sat up a little more. He pushed himself up and looked around, almost looking like a rodent that was scoping out its scenery. The silly Akatsuki member turned his head this way and that. Just give him some whiskers, ears, and a nose you would see it twitching. "Where's Itachi-san?" Tobi asked.

"Hell if I know." Deidara grunted.

Kisame gave a toothy smirk, "Speak of the devil."

He sensed his partner along with Yuki making their way back. Eventually both of them stood outside, they both were silent at least until Yuki noticed the door had been knocked down, "Why is the door knocked off its hinges?" she sounded pissed.

Her eyes glanced up to notice a new guest in their humble cottage, "Itachi..." she whispered softly.

The orange swirled masked man came jumping up towards her. He was beginning to circle her much like an animal would. _Sniff my ass why don't you. _Yuki grumbled in her thoughts. "So your the crazy lady that Pein-sama wants. I can tell your strong, no wonder why he is trying so hard."

Tobi inched his hands closer to Yuki and she was quick to slap his hand away and the other hand was balled up into a fist, ready to smash his mask in half. But, she stopped herself. A heavy sigh eased from her lips. Yuki merely dropped the cleaning supplies down and walked away. Not to the room, no, actually she walked back out to the forest. Itachi watched as she walked into the dark foliage. The Uchiha had no idea about this and he went to set down the bags on the counter. First, he had to go speak to Pein, and then go convince Yuki to come back and that everything will be okay... but Tobi was someone different than from Kisame or Deidara. How much would she be able to keep her cool then? "Awe, what's wrong?" Tobi asked, oddly confused.

"She's an anti-social psychotic brat, yeah." Deidara smirked.

Kisame snickered for a moment, "It will take her a while to get used to you. Maybe a long while."

Tobi was an idiot.

Itachi walked off into the narrowed hallway and into the room. He shut the door to speak with Pein. The elder Uchiha pulled a scroll out from within his pocket, bit his thumb and performed a few hand seals. The hollow-gram form of their leader popped up into the middle of the room. Gray eyes stared lifelessly towards the Uchiha, "What do you want?"

"What are you thinking?" Itachi felt very aggravated.

Behind the large pop up collar, Pein said in a very in matter in fact tone, "If Yuki is making the progress like you said she is, then her dealing with Tobi should be fine."

Pein stared at his emotionless face, but deep in those sharingan eyes of, "She is making progress, but Tobi is completely different from Kisame or myself. Even Deidara," in which whom she still hates, a lot, "Your making stupid decisions, Pein. I'm working to hard to have you ruin it with your idiotic choices by sending Tobi over here."

"My, your voice is quite venomous isn't it, Itachi-san? Pein mocked.

That visage of his was cold and dangerous, obviously he was no playing around, "Just because you an Uchiha doesn't mean you can talk to me like some pathetic weakling. You and your superiority complex."

Itachi's arms were crossed against his chest and he stood up. A small clinking sound was made in his sleeve as he pulled out the kunai he was hiding in his sleeve, "Just talk to me before you decide to make you decisions."

Pein's gray optic closed, "Fine."

With a swift movement and the sound of the blade sticking into the floor, Pein disappeared. Now just to go find Yuki before she somehow gets herself into trouble. The door creaked and was greeted to yelling and smashing. A headache was forming already. The fresh scent of the wilderness should be able to calm it down, for now. The moment he would step back into the loud cottage it would return. Five people living in one small cottage, that was going to work out well...

"Yuki," he gently called out.

She was around the area. The destruction of the trees had a set path for him. A few had been pushed down, others had missing park from her punching them. It went on for a while. Until there was a clearing not too far up ahead. Sure enough she was sitting there with her knees up to her ears. "Yuki," he called out again.

Yuki didn't bother moving even though she knew he was there. Itachi sighed with a slight annoyance as he was standing beside her, "You're going to have to come back," he didn't say 'you know' because she did know she was going to have to come back and deal with this. "Are you going to destroy everything every time you meet someone new?"

Yuki didn't like the way Itachi said that. It was cruel but that's just who he was, "You don't get it, do you?" she questioned bitterly.

Itachi sat down next to her but didn't bother turning his gaze towards her, "Obviously not."

"Are you being sarcastic?" there was a sneer in her stare as she snapped her head towards Itachi.

Itachi didn't respond and she gave a little growl then. "How would you handle it if you had split personalities and you had no social life up until now? It's only been six, seven months since Pein has been trying to 'tame me.' That's still not enough time. Besides, I at least got somewhat of a warning when Deidara came back."

Yuki huffed and turned her head over to the other side. "And you don't think I realize this?"

The way he said it made it sound like she thought he was stupid, "Don't say it like that."

Itachi noticed she continued to look away from him. A soft sigh came out once more and he stood up. "Come back when you feel like it. If you haven't noticed yet, Tobi is different so... try your best not to kill anything,"

More icy words that sent her heart plummeting into her stomach. Her hands clutched together tightly, "Alright, I'll... be back soon."

For a moment she was almost expecting Itachi to respond but when she turned around he was already gone. Yuki bit her bottom lip gently and turned her head back towards the little pond in the center of the clearing.


	19. Friends

**Well, here it is! the next chapter, didn't take terribly too long. This would have been out sooner but I left my dad's house which had the file for this story. Um, yeah! please review, they make me happy and more motivated to write and update the story. **

* * *

Has it only been two days since Tobi has arrived? Unfortunately, it only has been two days since he has arrived in the small little cottage and it has been constant annoyance. Not only for Yuki, but for everybody else who has been dwelling here, like he would hover over Itachi's shoulder often, asking him what he was doing. It didn't take much for Itachi to send him one of his dirty glares and he'd quickly back off. Deidara wasn't around that often within these two days to deal with Tobi. Same thing when it came to Kisame as well. So that usually left her around here for him to bug. It was almost enough for that other little her on the inside wanted to come out and beat his ass to a bloody pulp.

Yuki tossed her head back on the bed she was sleeping on. The curtains were tattered and torn which some light had been spilled into through the holes and such. Itachi wasn't in the house, she sensed it. "He's gone again…" she whispered a little bit.

The female with the forest green locks sat up in bed. She felt the ends of her hair tickle at her bare pale fleshed arms. She attempted to feel if Kisame was around. No. He must have been off with the elder Uchiha as well. Deidara on the other hand was lingering around the area somewhere. Obviously not wanting to be around anywhere with Tobi inside the house, "Great." She tossed the covers from over her and stepped on to the cold wooden floors.

Yuki started to speak for herself as she went to put her black tank top of with her black pants that fit her quite comfortably, "I guess I can do some more cleaning today. It's still very dusty around here."

When Itachi wasn't around, he didn't want her to be out there. With that group that is after her, they couldn't afford to have her found again. It was seriously upsetting but there wasn't much she could do. Yuki wasn't one to disobey orders from Itachi. "Hey, hey, hey!" an energetic voice came from around the corner.

Yuki furrowed her brows tightly and groaned he was going to be annoying her again, "What in the world do you want?" her emerald green optic went to send an ominous stare on the orange masked man.

"Eep!" he quickly stepped off bumping into the wall that was behind him, "Gee, your stare is almost as ominous as Itachi-san's." and seeing her glare even more had him dig his back into the wall. "B-but, I just wanted to know where Deidara-sempai was. I haven't seen him all day and I think Pein-sama had wanted to talk to us but I'm not sure."

Yuki just started to walk past him then to go into the kitchen to start cleaning up, "I don't know where the stupid blond is. Honestly, I can say I don't care either. He can die and rot in hell for all I care." She flipped her hand up in the throw away motion.

Tobi's body had then slumped a little bit, "Awe… you're so cold."

"Yeah, and I obviously don't give a fuck, now do I?" Yuki shrugged. She left him there in the hallway, with her having the last bit of words.

It was about an hour later and Yuki was finishing dusting up. Itachi had been generous enough to go buy more cleaning supplies. These wet wipes were good for cleaning up the couch and the kitchen counters, same with the window sills where a lot of dust still seemed to taint the windows so. Little spider webs and dead flies were there too. Disgusting really but someone had to whisk this place up. "That should be good for the dusting for now." Yuki continued to speak to herself a lot as she inspected the window sill.

Putting everything away, she held the broom tightly into her hands. Elegantly almost in a dance she moved around the living room and hallway to sweep up the dirty floors. The guys didn't seem to care about how much dirt they tracked in. To see the amount as it was, it would have looked similar to what it appeared when they first arrived at the abandoned cottage. "Yuki~" Tobi's voice called out once again as he stepped inside.

Along the way more dirt was tracking inside where she had already swept. Her mouth dropped open and anger was boiling through her veins, "What do you want!" she yelled in his face.

Once more he coward in front of her, "W-where's sempai?"

"I don't know!" Yuki's nose crinkled with frustration.

Tobi got in her face then, "Why are you being so cranky, cranky lady."

Unknowing to Tobi, Deidara was just about to come inside but stopped when he absolutely had to see this squabble between Yuki and his subordinate, Tobi. "For one," she lowered her head. Yuki's naturally hazed voice seemed to get a little deeper than usual, "You're too damn vexatious! And another thing, you tracked more dirt onto the floors that I have already cleaned!"

Yuki's index finger jabbed swiftly into that open eyehole of his. Tobi stated to stumble backwards and ended up tripping over his own feet. In turn, fell back onto his rear end holding both gloved hand over that eyehole. "OUCH! That hurt!" Tobi whined out loud.

A smirk came across her face but it went away as soon as she heard this blatant laughter. Her eyes peaked upwards to see Deidara leaning against the door frame laughing hysterically. Yuki crossed her arms against her chest and stared at the blond quite harshly. Obviously she was quite confused on why he was laughing. The cruel expression on her face could say otherwise though. "What. Why are you laughing?" Yuki shouted.

Deidara wasn't stopping at the moment, "Why!" she screamed.

Tears were gathering at the corner of his eyes as he desperately was wiping them away with his index finger, "Oh god, calm down you brat, yeah? I think we finally found something we both can have in common."

"Wha?" Yuki was bewildered.

Now that she looked at it, hey, they did! Both of them hated Tobi and could agree he was irritating. Yuki then started laughing herself. "Aha!" she stood next to Deidara and laughed at Tobi's pain.

Deidara had wrapped his arm around Yuki then and she held on to him. Tobi had stopped and behind the mask there was a frown that was behind there. A little waterfall of tears came crashing down and uttered underneath his breath, "Oh… how depressing… it seems sempai has found someone to like more than me…"

"What's this?" A deep monotonous voice stopped the laughter.

Yuki quickly got up into a straight posture. Beside Itachi was the towing shark man. It seems they came home earlier than what she was expecting, "Were you too just laughing together?" Kisame grinned a toothy grin.

"We finally came to an understanding." Deidara said as he was calming himself down a little bit.

Itachi's eyes shut and simply brushed pass them, "Good job Yuki."

Deidara frowned, "still a heartless bastard, yeah."

Weeks passed by after Yuki and Deidara started getting along. Itachi couldn't believe how talkative they have become. How Yuki used to cling around Itachi all the time because he was the only one who she could truly stand here, she was now hanging out with Deidara way more. It was a good thing because it meant she now wasn't incapable of being more of a social type of person. On the other hand there was an unexplainable feeling of envy. An emotion Itachi never felt because there was never any true need for it, but… he was feeling it now. Has he grown attached to Yuki in a way?

"It seems you're still proving your usefulness, Itachi-san." Pein's voice came from the dark shadows in the middle of the forest.

Itachi's mouth was twitched into a small little frown, "Cut the crap, Pein. You're here for a reason. So spill it."

Pein chuckled at Itachi's humor, well what to him felt like humor, "Oh Itachi-san. Anyways, it seems that Yuki is finally getting along with Deidara? How did it happen, I'm curious."

"They enjoy torturing Tobi." And that was a very blunt way of putting it.

Pein shook his head a little bit. Not the way he would have planned it but beggars can't be choosers, "Well, whatever. Anyways, I have a few little assignments now for Deidara, Tobi, and Yuki."

Itachi was shocked but he arched his eyebrow a little bit, "For what reason?" he asked.

Pein handed Itachi the scrolls then, "Well they are getting along so great now, even if it's just torturing Tobi, I'm sure they'll be able to go on a mission together. Unless…" Pein's gray optic wandered a little bit away from Itachi's crimson stare, "Your jealous, Itachi-san."

Itachi's dark elegant eyebrows pinched together as he snatched the scroll from the leader's hands. "What an absurd thing to claim. You should know better than anyone that I don't express such needless emotions."

"Heh," Pein took a step back, "Well then I'm sure you will have no problem in giving them this mission then."

Itachi just turned and started walking back to the cottage. It wasn't too far from now, he could say. Yuki was outside, pulling the weeds and vines off from the side of the cottage. They were digging into the boards that needed replacing. If not replaced soon the elements would only cause more wear and tear. That also mean rain would be getting inside of the little humble house, "Where's Deidara?" Itachi questioned.

Yuki turned around to see Itachi. He stood there with one of his hands pulled within the sleeve of his cloak. In the mid afternoon the sun was spilling through the leaves of the trees. The look on Itachi's face was not all that amused. Something had irked him, "Um…I don't know." Yuki shrugged, "He's somewhere around here, why?" she inquired as she turned back around to do her work.

"I just ran into Pein-sama." Itachi informed.

Yuki arched her eyebrow a little bit, "And?"

Apparently she had to stop whatever she had been doing because there was something that had to be handed to her. He watched as she stood up and turned around. Yuki was much smaller than him when it came to terms of height. She only stood at a good 5'4. "Pein-sama says he thinks you're ready to start doing missions with Deidara and Tobi, Here's a few assignments."

Yuki's fingers curled around the paper, "Is he insane?" Yuki asked more to herself.

"What's the problem?" A natural mocking tone of his voice entered through her ears. Chills pricking at the back of her spin as they echoed in her thoughts. Even if he hadn't meant that mocking tone there was just that small little fire in the pits of her stomach that just made her want to prove the leader wrong. That devious mind of his was probably expecting something along the lines like this.

"Nothing is wrong." Yuki responded quietly.

Itachi studied how her eyes roamed the scroll, a small sweat slicked at the top of her forehead. It seemed she was in deep thought, "It's just, yeah I get along with Deidara now but it doesn't mean I get along with Tobi."

An inhospitable brush past her he walked inside of the cottage, "There should be no problem."

Yuki sighed in defeat as she tucked the scroll away; she turned around and stopped him dead in his tracks by grabbing on to the back of his cloak, "What's your problem?"

Itachi merely shrugged her off like she was a pesky bug, "Nothing."

"That doesn't seem like anything." Yuki said with an arch of an eyebrow.

"Even if there was something wrong, why would I bother telling you? It doesn't concern you." Itachi started walking away again.

A deep frown appeared on her face as she tugged him back, "You know what your problem is? You're a heartless bastard who doesn't know what emotions to feel or show. I almost regret feeling sorr-" She caught herself before she completed that sentence.

Quickly she recoiled and turned around to start going back to work on the outside of the cottage, "What?" he asked.

"Nothing, just… go away!" She demanded.

The rustling sounds of her rummaging through the foliage was heard and the cracking of the leaves as she stepped on them. "What were you going to say," he narrowed a speculating stare on Yuki.

_Great, just great, my big damn mouth almost gave away the fact that I know about his past. I'm sure no one in the Akatsuki knows. If I had continued any further who knows what deep shit I could be in. Bad enough he's trying to force it out of me._"Nothing! For the last times just go away!" Yuki threw a rock at him.

The Uchiha stepped off to the side as the rock hit the tree behind him. His steps crept forward to Yuki. A small bit of fear sparked within her oculus. Her little form trembling, she didn't know what he was going to do. Itachi just stood in front of her as his eyes glared down into her own. Yuki's hands pushed out to budge him out of the way, "It's nothing important, okay?"

Her persistent attitude made him back off. There was no point in pressing the matter anymore. Yuki wasn't going to tell him so there was no reason to do any forceful matters. A sigh of relief eased past her lips as she slumped down into the mess of grass, leaves, and weeds. "That was too close." She had eased her head upwards to stare at the dim blue sky.

Evening came around faster than anyone really expected. Yuki, Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, and Tobi were sitting at the table. A small table to be more specific, which was hard to fit five people. It was only meant to be a table of two but you could get away with four but definitely not five. "This table is too cramped." Kisame complained.

"I know how to fix the problem, yeah." Deidara grinned.

Earlier when they had been getting the table ready Tobi had been getting in Deidara's face about wanting to sit next to his sempai. Tobi got his way, for the moment at least. Shoulder to shoulder, the wicked grin spread across Deidara's face. An expeditious movement followed by a loud thud on the floor Tobi had made contact with it. "Ouch! Sempai! Why are you so crue~el."

Yuki giggled a little bit then and her hand came over her mouth trying not to laugh to hard at the sight, "Good one." And with the plate off food she had set it down in front of Tobi, "Looks like you're eating on the floor, eh?"

Tobi looked up at her and his hand dragged down the swirled mask, "Oh what a cruel girl you are too. You take to the sadistic tendencies like sempai, unfair."

Yuki sat back down on to the chair next to Itachi. The plates were in front of all four of them sitting at the table. All of them were eating in silence until Itachi cleared his throat. All eyes were on him and he glanced at Yuki, "What?" she looked down as she had to think for a moment, "Oh…OH!" she remembered and she pulled out the scroll from her pocket, "Here, Deidara, apparently Pein wants us to do a few missions together… with Tobi of course."

Deidara begrudgingly sighed as he took the scroll over, "Well, we'll get on these as soon as possible then I suppose."

The next morning arrived and the trees proved to block out the morning sun. An internal clock is what woke the new trio that would be heading out in the early morning on their mission. The three sat in the living room then going over the first mission that was going to include Yuki. "It says that we have to go to this village…" there was a map in place and her fingers skimmed across it. "Ah… there we go." It was near where the sound village used to be.

"Apparently there is something Orochimaru had there that Pein wants. It'll be amongst the rubble of it all. It looks to be a crystal of some sort." Yuki stood up then and through her black cloak over her head. "Let's go then."

"Wait." Yuki turned around to see Itachi coming through the door of his room, "Deidara, come here."

A questionable look on his face he followed Itachi's order and stepped up close to him, "Make sure you keep an eye out. You know those pieces of trash are out there looking for Yuki. If you spot them come back immediately. We can't afford to have Yuki get taken away. Pein-sama will be displeased and though it will be your blunder, he'll pin it on me." Itachi's deadly tone made quick point in Deidara's mind.

"Don't worry about it, yeah? Everything will be okay, I promise." Deidara had a grin on his face.

Itachi couldn't trust that grin though. Deidara could say everything will go fine but there were just those doubts still there. His sharingan eyes averted up and stared at Yuki, "And you, be careful and keep yourself in check."

Her lips were lightly parted as her eyes directed towards the elder Uchiha? It may seem to someone else that he was worried about her well being. Yuki knew that wasn't what went through his mind. All she was, was a tool to the Akatsuki. One that Itachi had to watch over and he was just doing his mission. That's what he showed to them anyways. The jealousy he felt before was not seen by anyone. The true concern he had for her was not seen by anyone but in his own mind. Itachi has been around her enough that she was easy to snap. It was a simple retrieve mission but mishaps could always occur. "Got it." Yuki uttered softly to herself.

They were out the door sooner than one expected. An early start meant they would be coming in early. Thanks to Deidara's convenient ability, they would be traveling by bird back. What a dangerous thing for Tobi though because he pissed either Deidara or Yuki off, he'd be thrown off without a second thought to it.

Mid morning rolled around. Tobi was up near the head of the bird where Deidara was scoping out the place below. They rolled close to the annihilated base. The entire time Tobi kept poking at Deidara's head and looking over. "Why don't you get off of me?" Deidara would constantly say as he pushed the masked man away from him.

"But sempai, Itachi-san said to keep an eye out to make sure those evil people don't come by." Tobi insisted on saying.

It has come to the point now that Deidara had the hold of Tobi's cloak and dangled over the edge of the large flying clay bird, "I have had enough of you for one morning!"

Out of the corner of Yuki's eye she saw the hilarious sight. Maybe this would put an end Tobi's annoying like nature for the time being. The sound of him screaming, "No! No sempai! Please don't do it! What if I land in a rose bush or something! Those thorns are gonna hurt, please! Don't do it sempai!"

His hands let go and he was plummeting down into the sea of trees, even though up ahead the landscape was dead. The trees ceased to have any life, bare leaves and burn bark. The ground was completely black besides for the few patches of green grass that was showing through. To one it may have seemed like a disaster caused by Mother Nature herself. That wasn't the case though, according to what the stories have said, Uchiha Sasuke, Itachi's brother, before Sasuke left he slaughtered Orochimaru himself, he also burn this place down to the ground. It was not too long ago, considering life hasn't been restored there yet. "He did a lot of damage…" Yuki whispered.

"You know nothing of Itachi's brother, do you?" Deidara spoke to her.

Yuki puckered her lips, "Not…..much."

That tone of voice she used said that there was something she shouldn't have known, "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say back when Kisame got the alcohol… um, I got some information that I probably shouldn't know." Yuki had let a little smile come across her face a bit and shook her head, "I'd rather not say."

What if Deidara told Itachi? Might as well eliminate all risk of Itachi finding out these things she has known. "I have a question for you though." Yuki was beginning to be more inquisitive.

"What is it, hm?" Deidara cocked his head a little bit.

"What was it that made you hate me so much." Yuki sat there with her hands resting on her knees, holding on to her straw hat because the wind would have carried it away.

"I just thought you were brat, a conceited brat to full of this supposed gift she has."

That statement then had made her laugh out loud, "A gift? Ha, you're funny. What I have is hardly what I could call a gift. More of a nuisance. Now anyways."

Her eyes wandered down to the light sand color of this clay bird. _Maybe back then I used to rely on the other me too much. I don't need her now. Her strength is of no use to me._

"Well, not that it matters now. You're not that bad of a person." Deidara said with this cool air about him.

Yuki's eyes glanced around as they hovered over the lifeless scene. "Well, here we go." Yuki said as she stood up quickly.

Deidara watched as she jumped off with ease. He grinned at how enthusiastic she was. Even if this wasn't a mission to go assassinate or capture another tailed beast. Pein left those missions for her to be with Itachi and Kisame. Deidara jumped a moment later to land right next to her. Tobi joined no later than a minute. "Tobi, you go check that way." Yuki spoke.

"Got'cha!" Tobi gave a gloved salute.

Yuki looked around a little bit more, finding the next direction this crystal orb could be in, "Deidara, go scout that way and I'll go this way. If you find something send out a small flare. We'll meet back in this spot in about thirty minutes."

The blond headed Akatsuki member nodded his head and they separated. Looking through the fallen rubble and the ashes of everything that has been burn, it had to be around here somewhere. There was a slight chill in the air as she was searching. Here and there she would look up to see if the others had any luck on finding this little item that Pein wanted, for whatever reason. She was just going to assume that it would probably tell a little bit more about Orochimaru. "But, he's dead, so what would be the point?" she questioned to herself.

Maybe it was because of Sasuke? He probably got in the way of wanting to catch the nine tailed beast. She knew the Akatsuki wanted that much. "Deidara!" she called out.

"Did you find it, un?" Deidara called back out.

Yuki shook her head no a little bit then, "No, but, I couldn't help but think… why would Pein need something from here? To figure something out about a dead guy, or what?"

The clay master shrugged a little bit, "To be honest, I can't say I'm exactly sure. Apparently when Orochimaru died, Kabuto got all crazy wacko and took some of Orochimaru's DNA and infused himself with it."

Who ever that guy was, he seemed like a freak, "And he is probably after Sasuke, huh?"

"Who knows," was Deidara's simple response.

Yuki nodded her head again, "What does Sasuke have to do with any of this though? Why would the Akatsuki need to know more about Itachi's little brother? What threat does he pose?"

The look on Deidara's face could say he was getting a little bit annoyed. Yuki was asking quite a bit of questions. He had then remembered that she did not know much between these relations. "Well, Sasuke is from the same village as that nine tailed brat. He wants to kill Naruto, but, we need the kyuubi kid to get the final tailed beast. Well, close to it. The eight tailed beast is still needed."

With more understanding, she nodded her head, "Ah, that makes more sense then."

"Sempai! Crazy lady!" Tobi shouted, "I found it! I found it!"

Deidara chuckled a little bit at Tobi's reference to Yuki. She just frowned and gave Deidara a little bit of a playful shrug as they headed towards Tobi, "See!"

The orange masked man held up a small, scarlet crystal. Inside of it there were these tiny scratches. It might have been a scripture of some sort. "I guess we can go then…" Yuki said taking a closer look at it.

Deidara snatched it out of Tobi's hands and tucked it inside of his pocket, "I'll hold on to it, Tobi. Knowing you, you just might let it drop."

"Awe, sempai, that's not fair." Tobi whined.


	20. Dubiety

**I feel like I'm getting better with the updating, neh? Anyways, here is chapter 20. I have everything planned out, and I would say maybe about another 10 more chapters and this story will be completed. :]**

**please, review! it makes Ayla happy. review, review, review.**

* * *

A week later, after the line of many simple missions, Deidara and Yuki got closer as friends. They would sit and talk about other things other than torturing Tobi now. Maybe that was good news for him? It was just Itachi and Yuki inside of the cottage right now. Both of them were sitting on the couch in complete silence. Small conversations here and there. Her eyes glanced over towards Itachi plenty of times, feeling kind of uncomfortable, "So nothing on the enemy yet?" Yuki then asked as she felt she would go insane with silence.

The elder Uchiha and turned his a little bit to the side, "No, nothing. We've lost them completely. With their poor capabilities I'm sure it will be a long while before they can track you down again."

What a relief, "Oh, well that's good."

Sullenness fell upon them once more. Truly an awkward moment that made Yuki a little bit uncomfortable, "Itachi, I...have something to tell you."

His eyes once more adverted towards the girl. She shifted in her seat as his crimson stare burned through her soul. Anyone would come across the same bone chilling feeling if you had his stare on you like that, "I'm sorry about the other day. I didn't mean to snap like that. It's just... I fail to truly understand you and after..."

"You mean before you stopped talking and insisted it was nothing?" Itachi's deep voice was suspicious of the words that were going to come out of her mouth.

A nervous laughter came from Yuki, "Well, how do you feel about your brother? Really?"

Some smooth tactic maybe she could ease this out from his lips and then it would be him telling her again but without the alcohol induced trance. "Why is any of your business about how I feel about my brother?"

Yuki's brows pinched together as she turned her head to him more and raised an incredulous brow, "I'm asking you this because you walk around with this gray cloud over your head all the time. Maybe I think your brother means _something _to you. After all, you killed everyone else in the Uchiha clan, right? But for some reason you left your brother alive?"

Itachi felt Yuki's own speculating stare on him. His eyes hardened to a deep scowl as he stared down at her. Her lower lip came out as she returned the equally ominous stare. Abruptly Yuki stood up and she started making her way down towards the narrow hallway, "Think about it, Itachi. You can't hide it for much longer."

The first time she has truly stood up to Itachi without backing down with her tail tucked between her legs. Or without saying sorry or anything. The first time she stood up to him without that other side of her showing. This was the true her. Itachi wasn't sure how he had felt about that though. What she said was true. Yuki actually left him here sitting on the couch wondering. He couldn't hide it for much longer. The Uchiha's eyes lowered and he sunk deeper into the couch. There was probably a lot he couldn't hide for much longer now. At this point, he figured out what it was that she had found out a while ago. "Hmph." his eyes closed.

"Makes sense." he uttered underneath his breath.

It made sense why she had become so obedient towards him so suddenly. Yuki had felt bad for him. For now, he wasn't go admit this to her. After all, it could be a simple assumption. Why make an ass of himself, if that wasn't the thing he was hiding from everybody. Even if it made complete sense. Itachi wasn't going to be taking that chance. Those sharingan eyes of his directed themselves towards the hallway she had stomped so angrily down.

Her foot steps were heavy as she made it towards her room. She paused because she heard voices coming from one of the rooms. It was a strange voice. It wasn't Kisame's, nor was it Deidara's. How could it be Tobi's? Itachi was in the other room. So, who could it be? Yuki inspected the door to see if it was shut all the way or of it was open.

The way the door was positioned, it wasn't closed all the way. She bit her bottom lip gently then as her hands shook, the conversation wasn't something she would have suspected of hearing, "How is everything going on over there?"

"Fine sir, seems like things are going the way as they were planned." That was Tobi.

It seemed Tobi had been talking to... the leader? It had to be the leader because that was just the tone of his voice. Yuki has heard his voice more than a few times before anyways. _No way! That can't be Tobi! His voice is too deep, too sinister, what is going on here? I'm not liking the way this is turning out. Maybe I should have sensed this before? I mean, there definitely isn't anything right about him..._Yuki pursed her lips together even tighter.

"Good, how is Yuki progressing M-"

Tobi cut Pein off suddenly, "Ssh." he went.

Yuki froze in her tracks then as she figured she had been caught, "I think there is someone at the door."

That's when Yuki high tailed it out of the hallway and she came back to the living room. Itachi had still be sitting there. All anger inside of her towards him had gone away then. Her eyes looked at Itachi's. The Uchiha noticed the shock and amazement that was on her face. Even if her mouth was open and she had wanted to say something, nothing was spilling from her lips. It seemed that all words has been taken from her mouth. Confusion was what Itachi felt when she just kind of walked out of the door, leaving him there again. Itachi wondered what in the world had been wrong with her.

With a heavy sigh he eased up and he started to walk towards the door, "Itachi-san!" the elder Uchiha with that toneless voice spoke, "What?"

Tobi retreated back a little bit. The elder brother of Uchiha Itachi had scared him just a little bit. Tobi stepped forward again and started to scratch the back of his head then. "Well, uh... Pein-sama said he has a mission for you and Yuki."

"And?" Itachi stood there rather stiff.

Tobi was messing with the gloves on his fingers, plucking at the cloth. Taking in a deep breath, he continued to speak, "He wants you and Yuki to go to the border of the fire country and see if you can find out more about the nine tailed fox. With his location, what the village is planning to do with him and such. Oh, and also, Deidara-sempai and I will be doing the same thing but we'll be taking another route. He wants us to have a rendezvous point."

"Alright," was Itachi's very simple response.

The Uchiha walked out o the door then and went to go search for Yuki. The elder brother had a feeling where she was anyways. All he had to do was walk down a straight dirt path. A few branches with lush green leaves would slap against his cloak, or tug gently at it. His elegant way of walking ensured that the branches wouldn't tug and tear at his Akatsuki cloak. A small dimmed light flooded to the opening of the small little pond that was near the cottage. As he thought, Yuki was there staring deeply into the dirty pond. "What?"

Yuki had sensed Itachi there. "There's another mission."

Her green eyes darted towards Itachi then, "With Deidara again?" she questioned softly.

"Not exactly." Itachi then settled himself right next to her.

Yuki didn't mind though, she liked talking with Itachi to be honest, "What do you mean, not exactly?"

"They have the same mission as us but they will be going a different way." he announced.

The look on her face said she didn't want them to come. He furrowed his brows and questioned, "What's wrong?" he asked he once more.

"I don't want Tobi there..." thinking about what she saw earlier came racing through her mind then.

"Didn't I tell you, you have to deal with it." There was a small annoyance in his voice then.

Furiously she began to shake her head, "No, that's not it. It's... it's something else."

What could be different about what she was talking about from the other day anyways? The question in his eyes had her explain further on what she meant, "There is something wrong with Tobi. And not in the crazy annoying way. Like... he is pretending to be someone who is not. It's...weird. I...I didn't get this feeling before. I'm not exactly sure what...but..." Yuki whispered softly.

Itachi stared towards Yuki with surprise. Did she know what was wrong with Tobi? Or rather, who he really was? This could prove to be bad. Besides the leader, he was the only Akatsuki really aware of who Tobi was behind that mask. It was dangerous to say anything to be honest. He turned his head over to the side a little bit and stared around. No, it wouldn't be smart to say anything because the trees had ears, "What are you talking about?" he questioned calmly.

The entire time Yuki had been staring at his face, the expressions of surprise and as it changed to slight paranoia as he had been looking around, "How can you not know what I'm talking about?" she said.

It seemed she was slightly ticked off, "I have no idea what you're talking about.

"But," her hands raised as she gazed to him with this incredulous stare, "You're face... y-you have to know something. I can't be going crazy, I know what I heard and I know what I saw. His voice was different, they were talking about something, his name isn't Tob-"

Yuki was cut off by a shrill annoying voice, "Yu~ki, Itachi~i"

Both of them instinctively turned around and stared over and saw Deidara and Tobi coming out of the brush, "There you two are, un. We were looking around for you."

"Where's Kisame?" Itachi inquired.

Tobi excitedly waved his hands in the air, "Oh! Oh! Kisame-san had said that Pein gave him his own little mission to do!"

Deidara looked pissed off when Tobi was jumping around like a three year old who was hyped up on candy and soda. In that same process of the jumping around he knocked the blond around just a little bit. He huffed as he straightened himself out a little bit. "We should get going know, yeah." Deidara uttered.

Without a word Itachi got up and started walking off. Deidara was soon to follow, leaving Yuki and Tobi there for a moment. Until the orange masked man started to follow after his sempai. Bumps puckered at her skin when he passed by he. He had his head turned towards her and she had seen a flash of red. This had chills race down her spine, a cold sweat drip down the sides of her face. It felt like someone reached into her chest and took a hold of her heart so it couldn't beat. The very breath had been stolen from her. When Tobi proved to be a few feet away from her she gasped for air. "What... a strange feeling..." she whispered to herself.

Her hands vigorously rubbed up and down along her arms, "Yuki, come on or you'll be left behind." A deep voice rang through her ears.

The female looked up to see Itachi's head turned looking back at her. Everything had to be shaken away from her mind. This mission, after all, had to get done and get done right. There was no confrontation with the Kyuubi kid, but things went wrong all the time. Even Itachi couldn't control what would not go according plan. Yuki was quick to catch up with the others. The entire time she didn't dare speak a word. She couldn't even begin to find words to speak. What happened earlier, what she felt earlier, it shook her core, hard. Normally Yuki would catch up to Itachi to be by his side but she didn't even dare to begin to head past Tobi. Instead she just watched the back of him with worry in her eyes.

After hours of traveling they finally breached the borders of the fire country. The four of them stood there in the middle of the forest. Trees surrounded them and block some of the effects of the blazing sun down on to them. "It'd be best to split up." Itachi said.

"True, yeah. If those damned leaf shinobi come it'd be easier for them to find us. When we split, it'd be a little bit better then." Deidara had his hands on his hips then,

"And we'll be able to cover more ground as well!" Tobi exclaimed.

Such an innocent act. Yuki couldn't help but think about how much of a fake this guy was. It was like Tobi could feel her suspicious glare on him. It was frightening of the sort, to know that she could possibly know something she wasn't know. And it was frightening to her because Yuki had absolutely no idea what this man was capable of. "I'll be with Itachi then." Yuki said with a small little sheepish look on her face as she turned her head away and her eyes glanced on over towards the side then.

"So that means Tobi is with you, Deidara." Itachi looked nonchalantly down to the chipped painted nails.

Deidara didn't sound to happy about this, "I suppose so, yeah..."

The blond didn't know what was up, but noticed his new friend was acting quite a bit different than what she was the other day.. Whatever, he won't get he chance to ask her, which was rather unfortunate. "meet us back in this same spot in a few days."

"Sure, un." Deidara tossed up a careless hand, obviously not happy having to be stuck with Tobi for a few days.

He quickly went on without the orange masked man, and he tumbled right after shouting, "Sempai! Wait! You're going to fast! Sempai!"

Once Tobi disappeared, Yuki felt this strong sense of relief. A burden on her shoulder that she didn't want to deal with honestly. Her eyes fluttered up and she turned her head to the side. Itachi just looked at her with that cold stare he always seemed to give. "Well, I guess we should go find an area then, huh?" Yuki said, rather hopeful just to move and get even further away.

Without a word, Itachi turned around and started walking away then. How come things with Itachi still felt awkward? Was it the strange moment they had before they moved out from the space?

Itachi and Yuki found a nice spot just a few miles south from the gates of Konoha. Naturally the area was surrounded by trees and there was a river flowing just a few area ahead. They were sheltered by a decent wedge between two large boulders. "So, what's the plan?" Yuki asked as she picked the cloth of her pants.

"We're waiting until tomorrow evening, to see if any shinobi come by. This way we'll be able to find out what's possibly going on in the leaf village. The problems and issues they are dealing with. Then afterward we will split and look around. Especially if any of the kyuubi's friend or the Kyuubi itself is out on the move around here." Itachi explained.

"Okay, sounds simple enough," Yuki said,

Her eyes wandered around a little bit to make sure the sounds of foliage rummaging were just the small rodents that were forging for food. It would probably be like that for a while. "It's vital we don't get spotted or they have even the slightest suspicion that we are near by."

"How come?" Yuki asked, feeling like a curious five year old.

Itachi had the patience because Yuki was still clueless to a lot of the shinobi worlds problems, "The tailed beasts have been the goal of the Akatsuki for a while. We have captured the majority of them. When it comes to the bijuu we have not caught, its because their villages protect them well, making it nearly impossible for us to snag."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense." Yuki pondered for a moment, "But, I'm not in the Akatsuki. So I can be seen, right?"

"No." Itachi responded.

Yuki furrowed her brows gently, "But, they don't know I'm 'associated' with the Akatsuki, do they?"

Itachi's crimson eyes fluttered shut, "We don't know that. That is why we can't take the risk of them seeing you."

Yuki nodded, "okay, that makes sense then."

It should have made sense. So, in the mean time, her and Itachi would sit there waiting in the dark for any Shinobi and obtain any possible useful information. The space was small and kind of cramped for both of them to be in there. Itachi and Yuki would just have to sit there and deal with it. Yuki wouldn't complain cause it would just make this all much worse.


	21. Things Will Be Alright

**AN: Wow, this chapter came out really fast. I watched the episode when Itachi died and this is what inspired me to write this chapter. Haha, things from here will start moving, Finally. The end should be soon...xD after like, forever. Then from there, I will re-write those other chapter. PLEASE reivew the story because they tell me how I'm doing. And there are bound to be a few mistakes, it;s like... 3 in the morning and I'm tired... xD**

* * *

About two days have passed since Itachi, Yuki, Deidara, and Tobi have headed out. They were to find information but no one has come around in those two days. Yuki sat there on the rock and she was racking her nails down along the gravel. It hurt slightly to do so but things were just so god damn boring. "There has been nothing so far." Yuki complained softly.

"I know." he said and closed his scaret eyes.

It seemed the Uchiha was also pretty bored himself but there was nothing he could do about it. Not right now anyways, "Are we going to be splitting up soon?" she questioned "It's obvious we're not going to be hearing anything soon, so I think we should split up."

Itachi grumbled, "Stop complaining."

Yuki pursed her lips together softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to complain."

Who would have thought he saw that as complaining. Suddenly, her stomach growled. It was rather loud, and it was an embarrassing sound. A small little blush appeared across her face and she had this sheepish little smile on her face. "It's late anyways." Itachi spoke coolly as his eyes stared out towards the sun that was getting ready to set. There may have been a few hours before the sun would settle.

"Yeah...?" Yuki felt that Itachi hadn't finished what he was going to say.

Itachi brushed his painted nails through his dark locks, "There would be no point moving out when its late. We'll have to wait in the morning to split up."

"Oh!" she said, a small smile coming on her face, "I get what you're saying now."

The girl with green hair stood up. A rush of wind blew some strands off over to the side then. "Let's go get something to eat then. We need the energy tomorrow. We'll be getting up bright and early then."

Yuki nodded her head and she came up right beside him. Some strands of his hair that was in his face. Itachi stared at the on coming fingers for his face. Yuki brushed some strands of hair away from his face. That hard stare of his had softened just a little bit. All the elder Uchiha did was walk and Yuki followed. As always.

It only took ten minutes to reach the river. It was clear and the water ran smoothly down stream. They villagers, or other small villages near by must have taken very good care of this river. It was so clean, so crisp, anyone could kneel down and take a sip of it. Yuki looked up towards him, "Fish?" she questioned softly.

"Yeah." was his simple response.

"Wouldn't the fire...?"

Itachi shook his head, "No, we're doing it somewhere away from where we're staying. They wouldn't be able to track us."

_Of course_, Yuki thought.

Itachi always thought of it all. They wouldn't be able to do this if he hadn't thought about it. Itachi peeled his cloak off of his back and the cloth fell to the floor with a soft waft of air. He even went as far to remove his sandals from his feet. All the while Yuki watched with interest. As if she could see every muscle in his body move. There was just something about Itachi that was making her more entranced with what he did. There was a strange sensation that flowed through her now, when she was near him. A feeling she was too naïve to explain. Suddenly, Itachi turned to look at Yuki, "Well?"

Quickly she shook her head, not knowing what she was doing for a moment. Hopefully he hadn't noticed the way she was staring at him. That could be complete creeper status, "Oh yeah, I need to help too." she chuckled as sh plopped down on to her rear and slipped her own sandals off.

Over her head she tossed her black cloak off right next to Itachi's Akatsuki cloak. Both stepped into the water. "Eek!" Yuki squealed.

"What?" Itachi arched an eyebrow then.

Yuki laughed softly, "The water is really cold, I wasn't expecting it."

Itachi just shook his head and looked down to the water intensely. He did this for a few moments. He was studying the fish and his Sharingan had been able to calculate the movements and speed of the fish. Quickly he snatched a fish right out of the water. The fish flopped wildly in his hand and walked back towards the concrete and placed the fish on there. It took its last breaths of life on land. "Y-you make it look so easy." she laughed.

Itachi just smirked and shrugged his shoulders. This should be amusing, Itachi thought smugly.

Her fingers placed inside of her mouth as she was glancing down towards the fish running in the water. Yuki stared upwards and she looked up the river. A few fish jumped. So, if they jumped up there it meant a few were going to have to take flight here. She inspected the river from south. "Aha!" they did jump!

Yuki turned to face the direction of the fish where they would come at her head on. One came flopping out of the water with the splash that sprinkled on to her and fell back into the water. Yuki went to try and snatch it but it seemed it would not work for her this time. "Ouch!" her foot smashed into a rock and stumbled down on to her knees, "Fuck!" she shouted.

The girl was quick to jump from the water and she stood there rather flustered. Itachi sat there with a small smile spread across his face. By the time Yuki went to look at him, it was gone. She was only left with the thought that she probably imagined a fleeting smile on his face, "So much for surviving on wild life." his tone was sarcastic.

Yuki wasn't amused. She gave him this dagger stare and turned her head away like a stubborn mule not wanting to listen.

Thirty minutes later, Yuki made her catch. Itachi and Yuki sat there in the middle of darkness eating their fish. A small flame danced between the two keeping the cold air from hitting them and at the same time helping Yuki's legs dry off. "Itachi," her soft voice brought the Uchiha's attention towards her.

His deep crimson optic gazed upon her form glowing from the flame, "What?"

Yuki was thinking about how she swore she saw him smile. If it was true, hell must have froze over even for a mere moment. Yet, if she were to mention to him all he would do is deny, deny, deny. "Never mind." she whispered.

Suddenly Itachi stood, zipping his cloak up. "Let's head back, it's going to be dark soon."

The sun settled behind the mountains. Darkness filled most of Konoha, bringing a peace to chaotic days inside the village. Sakura was staring out into the distance then, bringing a soft frown across her face. The memories of Sasuke flooded her thoughts. Thinking of him still brought her into a deep depression. Memories with him were the good ol' days, the days she wished that could be brought back. At this point it seems impossible. "Sakura." A familiar voice came from behind.

Quickly she wiped away any form of tears that collected at the corner of her eyes, "Oh, hey, Ino."

"So, where's Naruto?"

"He's getting ready to leave." Sakura responded.

Ino looked shocked, "Oh, for what reason?"

"I think Jiraiya is going to be training him again, to make him stronger." Sakura responded.

No longer was she looking at Ino, and her gaze went back out towards the lights that shined down on the streets of the village, "When is he leaving?" Ino asked.

Sakura merely shrugged, "I don't know. But, think before then him and I are going to scout the area. With Kakashi-sensei too."

"Oh... because of the Akatsuki, right?" Ino wore a grim look.

The pink haired kunoichi merely nodded her head and she pushed away from the railing, "anyways, I should go home Ino. I need to rest for the morning."

"Oh, of course." Ino smiled.

This was one of the rare times that her and Sakura got along. They fought still, but, recently not as much. Everything in Konoha these days were much more serious. With Sasuke gone, it just seemed a lot of things changed in the rookie nine's lives. Even if the other teams had no direct effect of his leaving, more things were put at risk. "See ya later Ino." Sakura waved.

"See ya..." Ino's voice trailed off.

It pained to see her friend this way. Depressed over the fact Sasuke was gone. But, Ino felt this pain too.

"The perimeter seems clear." A masked shinobi spoke to his companion aside from him.

A firm nod of the head, "Yes, this is good. This means Naruto can leave without any problems."

"But..." the ANBU black op looked around, "I can't shake this feeling."

Darkness surrounded the forest, hardly anything could be seen in the radius. There were no lights, only the natural shimmer of the moon that was filtered through the leaves, "A feeling that, that, that there is someone near."

There was silence, and between the slit of the rock there was Itachi and Yuki. It was slightly difficult for Yuki to not move. The slightest sound could be prove to give away their place, their standing. Then it would completely ruin the mission. Yuki wasn't about to have the entire organization put the blame on a failure. "I don't feel anyone's chakra though," the other assured.

With much hesitation the ANBU turned his foot and started to head towards another direction, "You're right, it's probably just paranoia."

Once they left, Yuki sighed softly and came out from the rock. "I guess the Kyuubi is planning to leave then?" Yuki uttered.

Itachi spoke more to himself, "But where?"

Yuki cocked her head to the side a little bit, "Do you think if maybe one of us follows them, that we could possibly see if they spill the beans about where he is heading to?"

Itachi shook his head, "no, don't risk it."

That voice of his continued to be firm and Yuki ducked her head between her shoulders then. "Huh, I'm sorry..." she whispered.

There was no response from the Uchiha then, "Well, you stay here."

"Wha...?" she looked at him with this incredulous stare, "You're just going to leave me here alone! Are you crazy!"

Suddenly he shot her this dirty look and she pulled back, "You don't need me here to babysit you, do you?"

The girl pulled her bottom lip in then and her lips were parted lightly, "No, you don't need to be here to babysit me. I ju-"

The elder Uchiha interrupted her then, "Alright then, now that is established you stay here. You're capable of not being spotted. You know when someone is coming. All you have to do is hide in that rock."

Yuki nodded her head solemnly then, "Okay, where are you going?" Yuki inquired.

"I'm informing Deidara that the Kyuubi could be heading his way." and with that, Itachi was gone.

Yuki sighed softly then. She was left there in the darkness, by herself. She had her back pressed against the wall and it left her thinking again. Suddenly she heard something. There was a crackle, "Hurry!" from a far distance someone shouted.

It happened to be the same ANBU from before. Yuki's heart jumped to her throat and quickly scrambled between the slit of the rock. Her eyes looked out because they landed right in the spot she had been in just a few moments ago. "We have to get back to the village, this is urgent!"

"I can't believe he is so close, so sudden! Naruto... the Hokage!"

Quickly the jumped off and she crawled out from the rock and she peered over, "What?" she whispered.

Already they were gone into the abyss of the night. The only trail she could get from them was their voices. "Uchiha Sasuke been found around here!"

Yuki's eyes opened wide with shock, as if she couldn't believe what she heard. That's when she felt her heart stop completely in her chest. She pulled down a bit. Would Itachi return soon? Or would he cross paths with his brother before hand. Yuki gritted her teeth and punched the rock. "God dammit!" she hissed.

One, she was in pain. That was a stupid idea of hers. Thinking she could punch the rock, and not have the pain shoot through her entire body. Yuki kept growling at herself. She was so frustrated. There was absolutely nothing she could do because Yuki knew nothing of Itachi's brother! "Maybe I..." she whispered softly.

"No..." she retreated back after her thoughts, "But... I should."

Itachi told her to stay still but, she could find something out. "No, I'll wait until morning. If Itachi doesn't come back by morning then I'll go ahead and go. We were going to split up anyways. He did say once morning came, that we we're going to split up."

Yuki snuggled back between the rock, and closed her eyes. Being alone, she couldn't truly fall asleep. She'd be asleep, but with her guard up.

Morning time came rolling around. Uchiha Itachi has yet to return to the sight. He never came back last night. Of course, the girl did not know this. She was still sleeping quite soundly between the two rocks. Praying through the shadows and trees moved a masked figure. "She won't be expecting this, now will she." such a deep voice disturbed the birds, making them flee as he moved down closer.

"It seems she isn't awake," he spoke to himself.

The sunlight that spilled through the crack woke Yuki up. Those eyes of hers popped open. "Itachi?" she whispered softly.

The girl thought that maybe he was there. When she came out though, he wasn't there at all. This way and that, there was no sight of him. This place looked so beautiful when the sun was coming up. It must have been mid morning because the blazing star was not at is maximum heat and she wasn't dieing from heat stroke just yet.

Birds flew from trees and they called out loudly. Tobi sat down on a thick branch to the unsuspecting girl that was below. His hand placed on the orange mask. The elder Uchiha was near by, and he was going to have to get through this quick before she came. The orange masked man came jumping down and he landed right behind the girl with green hair, "My, Yuki-san, your hair looks so pretty this morning." he grabbed for it.

Yuki screamed bloody murder, "Gah!"

Her hand clutched on to her heart as a cold sweat dripped down on the side of her face, "Oh my god. It's just you Tobi. You scared me."

"Sorry," his voice started out in the same sweet, naïve tone, but it quickly changed into something deeper. Something that was more ominous and it sent a knife through Yuki's heart, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"T-Tobi...?" Yuki's voice began to shake.

A soft chuckle came from him, it was slightly muffled, "No. Wrong. I guess you didn't hear my name when you were eavesdropping on me, huh?"

"Y-you know?" Yuki's voice quivered.

"Of course I know. I'm not stupid."

"Could've fooled me..." Yuki uttered underneath her breath.

"Watch it," he took a step forward.

As quickly as he took that step forward she stepped backward, "Then who are you? I knew there wasn't something right about you before. Then even confirmed it more. I asked Itachi but..."

"He won't tell you. That is why I must hurry up here before he comes. He wants to keep you away from the truth."

Tobi's gloved hand leaned out to grasp her chin. He watched through that single eye hole as Yuki stumbled backwards. There was all urge to resist his touch. A strong aura emitted from him, one she has never felt before. That aura that made it seem like he has lived for a thousand years. "Who are you!" she screeched.

Any cries she was going to make he quickly muffled and held her tightly to him. Yuki's heart was caught in her throat, "Patience, child."

Tobi then slammed her against the tree, knocking the wind out of her and she slumped to the ground. Out of no where he pulled out a rope and bounded her hands together and wrapped a cloth around her mouth so she could not scream. Tobi was on his knees, right in front of her, "Now listen and listen good,"

Like I have a choice, Yuki growled in her mind.

"My name is Uchiha Madara. Know of me?" his cruel voice questioned.

To think that Itachi's voice could strike the fear into anyone when he talked. Madara's voice along could slit your throat. Yuki shook her head in a, I've heard of you. "Good, it saves me a long winded explanation. Anyways, you are to stay away or butt in the little quarrel Sasuke has with his brother. I know you know the truth. You made Itachi drunk so he could spill the beans. You saw the picture in his drawer. Haven't you ever heard curiosity killed the cat?"

Yuki's mouth moved and struggled to get the cloth down from her mouth,. There was a silence as he watched her struggle. The ancient Uchiha seemed to be rather entertained by her many failed attempts to rid the cloth over her mouth. After a few more moments of the highly amusing display, he used a single finger to pull the cloth down. "One, does anyone else know who you are? And why is it so important to you? Huh?"

"Only Itachi knows, because long ago we had a little chat. This was even before the clan was massacred. Oh, and the leader, Pein, he knows. After all, he is apart of my entire plan. There is a special technique he has that I want to use. And, because, I want to use Sasuke too. The boy obtains a hatred that was always in his blood. Vengeance courses through his veins and he will _always _be an avenger. Of course, I'm sure you could imagine that Itachi wants me no where near his 'precious little brother." he had said in a mocking tone.

"What about you? What is your concern about their relationship, huh? Is it because you have feelings for Itachi?"

a sinister hand ran from her cheek to her jaw line and underneath her chin. Tobi's index finger lifted her face up so she could stare right at him. She grit her teeth. Before she spoke, there was hesitation, "No, I don't have feelings for Itachi, why would I?"

A loud laughter came from him, "You're such a horrible liar, child. You have feelings for Itachi. Well, news flash, Yuki. Why would someone like him have feelings for you? Huh? Every breathing moment he has to keep his eyes on you. Itachi sees you as nothing but a nuisance. You're like a child to him. Because of that, he would never see you in such a light. You're talking about a man who killed his mother, his father, and his lover."

"But he couldn't kill his little brother!" Yuki retorted, "There has to be..."

Tears flowed into the corner of her eyes, "Touche, Yuki."

In a blink of an eye, Tobi, or rather, Madara was gone. Yuki clutched on to her chest and she lunged forward as tears streamed down her eyes. Yuki held herself, shaking. The last image of him would burn into her thoughts for a long time, she just knew it. His words were ringing through her hair. All she was to Itachi was a louse.

Yuki sobbed there in the fetal position for ten minutes at the very least. It had taken that long to set a fire in her belly. Instead of Madara's words tearing her down and ripping her from the insides out, they did the exact opposite. "Itachi..." she whispered. "I have to find Itachi..."

Or run across Sasuke before he and Itachi crossed paths. She had to talk to Itachi. There were a few things she could do, the best one that sounded was to search for the elder Uchiha. It was time for her to take charge, and prove that she wasn't an insect. "Itachi!" she shouted as she started running off into the thicket of trees. There was a small trace of his chakra, maybe she could trace from here. "There..." she whispered.

"Itachi! Itachi!" she cried out desperately into the forest.

Her voice was so loud it could be heard through out the timberland.


	22. The Truth?

Once morning came in Konoha, everyone would rise at the crack of dawn. Or the majority of the civilians and shinobi anyways. They had to work, and get things done to make their living. Fresh dew layered on the grass, sending beautiful fresh aroma's through out the entire village. Scents that Ino Yamanaka could appreciate as she opened the flower shop up. "Hey, billboard brow." Ino grinned.

Sakura growled, "Hey Miss. Piggy. You shouldn't make a face like that, it could stay that way. Oh wait, that's the face you have everyday."

"I wouldn't be talking, Sakura." Ino's hands placed on top of her hips then.

After a few moments of intense moments of them just staring at each other, Ino inquired, "What brings you here today?"

Sakura smiled, "Oh, just getting Sai something. He's in the hospital right now."

"For what?" Ino gasped.

The pink haired kunoichi's smile turned into a wide grin, "Let's just say that he really needs to watch what he is saying."

Ino opened her mouth to speak but before she could even let a word out, someone came rushing to Sakura's side almost knocking both her and Ino over. "Sakura! Sakura!" the voice was urgent of the ANBU.

"What, what?" Sakura's eyes widened.

"Sa-S-Sasuke! He's found around the area and well, I accidently said it around Naruto when I was heading over to the Hokage's office and now he's rushing to get out of the village. Sakura, you have to stop him."

Her body was numb. The bouquet of the bright red roses in her hands fell from her grip. Crimson petals scattered about the roses when they hit the ground. Sakura wasn't exactly sure how to respond. Once that name slipped from the ANBU's mouth her mind was sent spiraling. "I'll be back later." Sakura turned and sprinted off.

On the outside of the gates of Konoha, Naruto stood there pacing. The ANBU came rushing towards the gates with urgent news. They weren't supposed to slip in front of Naruto, not until they confronted the Hokage first. From there she would have decided if she was going to send out Naruto so soon. "Naruto!" Sakura shouted as she ran towards the gate.

The pink haired kunoichi had been slightly surprised that her knuckle headed friend hadn't left already, "What the hell do you think your doing Naruto? We can't leave so suddenly. Come on, we have to wait for Kakashi-sensei." That means it was approved for them to leave the village with the Hokage's blessings.

Naruto's eyes gleamed with anticipation and excitement. There was also a small bit of anger in his eyes, at himself. Every time Sasuke was near by and Naruto heard about it, he _always _missed Sasuke even just by a hair. The blond felt this fire in his stomach every time Sasuke disappeared it pissed Naruto off. Once the anger dispersed, the sadness would take over and the sixteen year old boy would be taken down another notch. "But Sasuke is out there!" Naruto pleaded.

The young woman lowered her head and her fingers interlocked with each other, "I know Naruto. But, it's not wise to go out there, just me and you."

It may have looked like she didn't want to get Sasuke anymore but that was the furthest thing from the truth. Sakura felt much guilt for putting such a burden on Naruto. He was the only one who had the true passion of retrieving Sasuke. Everything that had to do with the youngest Uchiha brother, something that could get him a step closer, he had to put it on his shoulders. All she felt that she was useless. "Sakura, we may not have another chance like this, come on!"

Quite nervously Sakura looked around. She preferred to obey the rules and not feel the wrath of her master. _He's right, we may not have another chance like this again. We, we could try and get Sasuke. _The pink haired kunoichi gulped deeply and clutched her fists tightly, "Okay, let's go Naruto. Kakashi-sensei should be able to find us anyways."

A big ol grin spread across the blonde's face, "Hehe! Okay Sakura, let's go!"

The two shinobi dashed out the gates and into the forest. Both moved with much velocity and reflexes to match. Every branch and tree stump that threatened to slow them down was dodged with ease. "Itachi!" a voice called out.

Sakura's head jerked back because she heard a voice, "Itachi!" the pink haired kunoichi heard it again.

Suddenly Sakura stopped on top of a tree branch. Her fingers grasped on to the thick and rough bark of the tree. A gentle wind brushed through her short locks of her hair, scattering it in front of her face. Echoing sounds of both of their feet came to a stop and Naruto only heard his feet. That's what made him come to a halting stop and a 180 turn around. "Sakura," he sounded concern, "What's wrong, why did you stop? Do you sense Sasuke?"

Sakura shook her head, "No, don't you hear that?"

The blond scratched the side of his head, "Hear what?"

Naruto looked to the sky, his blue eyes wide. "Itachi!" the voice that had sounded so distant to Sakura was not closer.

Someone might as well have splashed a barrel of toxic waste on to Naruto. That name that rung throughout his ears was the name of disdain. The voice who was calling it, it was a female voice? Why would a female voice be calling out _that _mans name. "The person is heading this way. Come on Naruto, we need to hide."

The moment Sakura and Naruto hid a girl came stumbling into the circle of trees. She collapsed on to her hands and knees and she was gasping for breath. "Itachi!" she gasped for breath.

Yuki was plain out tired, she ran for what seemed like forever. There was no trace of him. Yuki couldn't even sense his chakra. This was bad. Yuki had pretty much all that she needed to prove to Itachi she wasn't insane and maybe even apologize or something. "Wait, Naruto." Sakura hissed as she tried to hold him back. However, the idiot escaped the pink haired kunoichi's grasp and jumped out right in front of the girl.

Much like a skittish cat Yuki scattered behind the single boulder that stood there, "oh my god."

"Who are you!" the blond boy shouted pointing a finger at Yuki.

_Spiky blond hair, big blue eyes, konoha's head band, and he wears a lot of orange. This must be, it has to be... _"Naruto Uzumaki."

His hand dropped to the side and his eyes were wide with astonishment. He furrowed his brows and screamed again, "Who are you?"

Yuki watched a girl with pink hair walk out calmly. A pale hand reached out and grabbed the collar of his jacket. Without much effort she pulled him back. Naruto screamed and slammed into the tree that was placed behind him. A boom and a crash, birds fluttered into the sky as a few leaves came floating down. The dust that raised in the area settled down. "Ouch, Sakura, that hurt!" Naruto sniveled.

"Stop complaining, I know what I'm doing." Sakura snapped, "Anyway," she turned to look at Yuki who curled around the boulder, "Who are you? And how do you know Naruto's name?"

What a somber gaze from such sparkling green eyes. This young woman meant business, but Yuki wasn't exactly sure how she should respond. Already she proved to dig herself into a deep hole. Maybe, she decided, she could hold this out for a while. "What do you mean?" Yuki attempted to play licit.

Sakura looked antagonized, "Why are you playing stupid? I heard what I heard. You were calling out Itachi's name. Where's Sasuke?"

"You're trying to stop us from getting to Sasuke, aren't you?" Naruto accused.

Yuki furiously shook her head in disagreement, "No, no. You've got it all wrong. I'm not a member of the Akatsuki. They're trying to make me, but, I'm looking for Itachi. What do you know of Sasuke?" the girl with forest green hair aimed to turned the tables on them.

Unfortunately, her taking charge didn't work. "Why would you want to know anything about Sasuke?" Naruto huffed.

Yuki's fist clutch, "Because," she shouted at first but lowered her voice then afraid to be spotted by someone she shouldn't be spotted by, "He's going to hurt Itachi."

Both of them looked at this girl rather bewildered. So all three of them stood there looking at each other. A long silence had filled between them both. At least it was silent until Naruto was beginning to breath heavily. Frustration filled through his body. Slowly his cheeks were beginning to flush. "Why would it concern you that Itachi will be killed?"

His venomous voice had made her retract and she looked down at the ground. That was a simple answer for her though, "I care about Itachi deeply. He may be a little rough around the edges. But... but if you guys knew the truth!"

"What truth?" Sakura stepped forward.

Naruto seethed, "Don't you know Itachi is a killer! It's his fault that Sasuke turned to the dark side. His older brother is after me too! How could you care for a man who is nothing but pure evil."

Yuki shook her head, "No, you have it all wrong!"

Once again another moment of silence filled them. Sakura's heart had stopped beating in her chest. She stared at this girl with wide eyes and an open mouth. Naruto's brows were pinched in the center cause deep creases, really showing his displeasure with the current situation both of them were in. Instantly a quick strategy came into her mind, "You tell us about Itachi and we will give you information on Sasuke."

"You can't be serious!" Naruto sputtered.

"Deal, only if you tell me about Sasuke first." Yuki folded her arms, seeing the game this pink haired kunoichi was going to play.

Sakura sighed and she placed a hand on Naruto. Gently she whispered to him, "This might give us a better understanding about Sasuke, and where he may be."

Naruto frowned. He knew his fellow female kunoichi was right. She wouldn't be known for her wits if she wasn't right. Thankfully Naruto had matured enough to not fight back and be as stubborn when it came to questioning Sakura's decisions. Naruto stepped forward, pushing her back gently. "I'll tell you what I can about Sasuke." Naruto paused for a few moments, "We were team mates. From the beginning he and I had this constant battle of who was stronger. I always felt like I was the underdog, because he came from the Uchiha clan. I'm just me. Every time I saw him as stronger, I would get strong. At first I didn't sense it but, after the forest of death it became more apparent that he would become extremely jealous and hateful towards me when I proved to be stronger than him. Orochimaru gave him the cursed seal when we were going through our chunin exams. He became more obsessed about power. And eventually it lead to him leaving the village to join Orochimaru." Naruto lowered his head in shame.

He felt like a horrible friend, not being able to stop Sasuke. Being stronger now, he hoped that the next time he encountered Sasuke in a fight that he would finally be able to win. Yuki sighed softly and she shook her head, "All that, for what reason?" Yuki asked herself.

At that moment she felt she was able to grasp somewhat of who Itachi's little brother was. He was a lost little boy. Someone who didn't know how to properly grasp his emotions. He seemed someone to be easily manipulated in the wrong hands. As Tobi said... he has the blood of an avenger coursing through. Now she wondered why he never told Sasuke the truth. Did he want his little brother to be used as a pawn? If he cared so much for him, why is he allowing his little brother to lead a life like this. Yuki gritted her teeth as she turned around. "The truth is, Itachi still cares about his little brother."

"What?" The blond looked stunned, "That's a lie!"

Yuki shook her head, "It's not a lie, I can guarantee you that."

"How can it possible not be a lie?" Naruto was becoming more upset by the minute.

"Because he wanted his little brother to sta-"

"There they are!" A long distanced voice shouted. It was coming from the direction of the same area as Sakura and Naruto were coming from. "Dammit, have to go."

"Wait!" Naruto shouted furiously.

His arm out stretched to try and capture Yuki, "You still have to tell us! What in the hell do you mean 'the truth! How can the whole massacre thing be a lie! They're dead! All of the Uchiha's are fucken dead!"

Tears gathered in the corner of his eyes and he kept shaking his head back and forth. In complete disbelief of what he was able to gather. Itachi wanted his little brother to what? To what? Before he could get a good grasp of the girls shoulder she easily slipped out and disappeared into the thicket of trees. "Dammit!" he shouted.

Soon the salty liquid began to stream down the sides of his face. Making it harder for him to breath. Sakura quickly ran towards Naruto's side and held on to his shoulder. "Come on Naruto, let's go back to the village. You're head is not clear enough to continue."

Agreeing for once, he turned his back. There will be other chances. Naruto still has much maturing to do before he could face against his best friend once again.

There was much going on right now. The chaos of land of fire was becoming more noticeable. The presence of Uchiha Sasuke was known. And it seemed that the Kyuubi was out and the ANBU were freaking out because it was their job to make sure the vessel of the nine tailed fox was safe from harm. This was not your typical afternoon in the land of fire's forest despite the natural beauty of the forest captivating and peaceful as ever. With the warm sun warming the earth, wild life went on with its daily business even the chaos amongst the humans.

Itachi calmly paced his steps through the forest. Yuki had not been at their designated place of hiding. It was obvious she ran off for some reason. The girl wasn't immature or stupid enough to run away now. He figured she might have felt Sasuke's presence too. Yuki knew to much, that he knew. Hopefully leaving her alone wasn't a mistake. He was concerned that if Madara neared her, that it could ruin his plan. He was supposed to keep this man away from Sasuke. Yet, he didn't know how much longer he would be able to survive. About a week ago he was beginning to feel a deep pain in his chest and started to vomit blood. "Yuki," he called out calmly as he searched for her.

Far off in the distance Yuki rushed through the brush and trees, disturbing whatever animal got in the way. Birds flew off into the crystals skies and small rodents scurried underneath another pile of sticks, dirt, and leaves. Desperation flowed through her entire being as she pushed branches away and broke through thick barriers of branches and mud. Yuki was going as fast as she could. She had to be going into the right direction because Itachi was getting closer and closer. She felt it in her bones. One could only travel so fast for so long. Like a cheetah she went to her top speed but her stamina could only last so long. When traveling and being able to go longer distances was that mere fact that it was a comfortable leisure pace. Yuki couldn't continue on. Her breath became short and she was gasping for much needed oxygen. Finally, she just slumped against a near by tree. Green locks were askew and strands were across her face. Dirt covered her face. Inspecting herself it appeared that a few twigs snagged and ripped holes in her cloak. She didn't care though. All she needed to worry about getting to Itachi before Sasuke.

That presence of hers was somewhere west bound. It seemed she wasn't alone. Yet, she wasn't fighting anyone so she must have not been in the eye of the storm. That wasn't the only one he was picking up though. Sasuke was somewhere near by. That little red-headed tracker girl on his team might have been picking up his trail. Now was not the time to face Sasuke in battle. Then it seemed to dart off towards his direction. Yuki must have felt Sasuke's aura around. Calmly he closed his eyes and continued on.

Turning around a corner he peered over to see Yuki slouched against the tree, breathing heavily. Her green hair frizzed out and in a complete mess. Sweat dripped down and clung to her jawline before it fell on to her black cloak. She looked incredibly happy to see the elder Uchiha, "Itachi! There you are, I've been looking all over for you." she announced.

Itachi spoke softly, "Hm? What seems to be your problem?"

Yuki pursed her lips together and she looked around. She was half expecting that Tobi would be around the corner listening. How does he get these things. She seriously wanted to know. Thinking about it and not knowing was irritating. "I can't talk about it here. We need to head back to the cottage because this is a serious conversation and will probably take awhile."

"Yuki, we're on a mission." Itachi scolded.

Yuki just shook her head, "It doesn't matter. I ran into the Uzumaki kid anyways and the entire leaf village is on red alert because your little brother is near by. J-just c'mon. We need to go back now. I really need to talk to you."

Itachi allowed her to grab the sleeve of his Akatsuki cloak as she gently tugged him along. Persistent as she was, he began to walk along side of gently tugging his sleeve away. Itachi looked down at the girl. Something seemed different with Yuki. Itachi just couldn't grasp it.


	23. Withering Blood

**AN: OKAY guess what, this is finally the chapter that everything comes together. I like how it flowed, though most of it was explination of what happened. haha! BTW. This is major SPOILER ALERT! plus some extra haha... which you'll know what I mean ;] I know some people keep up with the manga but there are others who probably don't keep up with it. Um, so yeah. review plz? **

* * *

Night began to settle into the peaceful, unearthly sky. Dazzling colors that blended and twisted into the sky began to turn into a darker gradient of the black to fill the following hours of sleep. In the distant the wolves began to howl. No longer could you hear the chirping of the birds, they have settled for the night. Now the near by stream could be head flowing steadily down the jacked rocks. In the surrounding of lanky trees Yuki and Itachi settled outside of the little cottage. Yuki pushed strands of her hair away from her face. Her harsh breathing had calmed down from earlier and all the perspiration had ceased trickling down the back of her neck. The girl rounded to be right in front him. So many thoughts buzzed and roared inside that mind for all. All to much for her to process correctly. Puzzling thoughts and questions, where should she begin first? "Okay, I really don't know where to begin." she said softly.

"Start off why you were so out of breath earlier. That would be the obvious place to start." Itachi looked rather unamused.

Totally ignoring his insult, Yuki nodded her head, "Right... right..." still she was trying to piece all of her thoughts together, "Okay. So, first off... I want to apologize."

Itachi got this incredulous look on his face. It almost seemed like he was taken a back by what she said. "Before you say anything, let me finish. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry you had to capture me and deal with me. I know I'm not an easy person to deal with. It took... someone else for me to realize what a burden I have been. I'm sorry for being childish and always relying on you. I'm strong, I'm powerful and I need to learn how to control myself, by myself. So for now on, every step to bettering who I am will be done by me and me alone. Thank you for getting me this far and... more social..."

Itachi's look softened. Honestly he didn't know how to take this. He didn't know how to feel about it. Yuki has grown a lot, and recently she has done more growing after she has accepted Deidara as a friend. A single question summoned in his thoughts, "Where is this coming from?"

Yuki's hand came in front of her face and she dragged her fingers and palms down. Skin came dragging with it until she released her hands. "Tobi, I know who Tobi is."

"I told you, it was nothing." Itachi's lips tightened.

Yuki refused, "No, that's where you're wrong."

It seemed with this growing she has done, she also has becoming stronger when it comes up to standing for herself against the Uchiha. Most feared those crimson eyes. A deadly weapon, one who knew how to use them quiet well. Unfortunately, to a deadly price. "You're imagining it." Itachi persisted.

Still Yuki shook her head furiously, "No, no listen to me! I know who he is. I know his name."

As Itachi feared, she knew. When Pein had located Deidara and Tobi here, there had been a few concerns. One of them being that he knew Yuki did not like people. She had troubles socialized for those lack of years of not being around people. The other problem had been Tobi. Underneath that act lied a man of vicious powers and a very cruel intention. "This morning he came up to me and he tied me to up. He was ranting about a whole bunch of things and then said... I know you know. And he told me his name. He's really Madara, Uchiha Madara."

Itachi sighed and lowered his head, "Come inside."

With two fingers he signaled her to come hither. Yuki followed him inside the cottage where he locked the door and shut all of the blinds. The cottage was quiet. Nothing stirred inside besides for her and the elder Uchiha. A humble little cottage that was neat, clean. A well kept inside thanks to Yuki's efforts. Yuki sat down on the couch where Itachi sat right next to her. Both of them were in awkward silence. Until the dark forest haired girl turned her body around and she stared at the Uchiha. Her fingers interlaced with each other on her lap.

From the corner of his eyes he looked at her. The look in her eyes, on her face. It said something. She was ready to sit down and have a serious talk. Deep inside he feared what it might be, of what it is going to be. "Itachi," her smooth voice eased out.

Immediately that's when his entire body began to tense. A sensation and emotion filled him that made his body as stiff as a board. Gently his fingers clutched against his knees and stared towards the ceiling above them. There was a lot he kept to himself for a reason. Emotions had to be in check in order to keep up this beautifully planned charade up. It was all for his little brother. Another gentle sigh escaped his lips. "I want you to tell me everything."

As Yuki spoke everything as beginning to slow down. It seemed an eternity for her to say that once sentence. After they passed her lips that's when the world came to a complete stop. Everything around him was at a stand still and even his heart seemed to cease beating. He didn't even have to peer to his side to know that Yuki was intently staring at him. She was waiting for his answer and in the pits of his stomach he felt them turn. A feeling often he rarely ever felt. The last thing that was remotely close to this stomach wrenching feeling was _that _night. A night that changed the lives of the Uchiha forever and two brothers were separated.

Gently Yuki pulled in her bottom lip. She hesitantly began to reach her hands out. Inside her chest her heart was pounding wildly and a cold sweat began to build at the back of her neck. Her entire body shook as she finally placed her hands on top of his own hand resting on top of his knee. "Please, I want to know everything."

"Everything." his toneless voice repeated.

Yuki nodded, "Yes, everything."

Eventually it would have lead to this point. Itachi felt that with his current future his best bet was through her. To keep _him _away from his younger brother. Deep inside, he cared. Yuki knew it too. Itachi figured this out some time ago when she was acting odd and she'd get upset and frustrated and stalk off. Why she had been so quick and willing to comply to him. All of it made sense. "Fine," he uttered and Yuki's eyes brightened, "But, in order to get everything I'm going to have to go back to the beginning."

"Alright." Yuki was eager to learn, eager to know.

As Itachi was about to begin, he looked down to her hand. Her eloquent, pale hand was still sitting on top of his. Yuki's eyes fluttered downward and noticed. Quickly she pulled back her hands and looked away from him. "Sorry." she whispered and privately flushed.

Another calming breath blew from his mouth. Itachi's calm nature made him relax and sink into the couch, "According to scriptures in the books of history, back then everything was ran by individual clans. Amongst those clan, there two who stood above them all. The Uchiha Clan and the Senju clan. The first one to call himself Hokage was Senju Hashirama. The Senju Clan and the Uchiha clan were rivals and have been rivals."

"What? Have been?" Yuki questioned, "If that were true it means that the blood line continues in someone. But who?"

Itachi glanced at her and signaled her to be quiet, Immediately she zipped her lips and let him continue. "Their rivalry proved to the point that when on place hired the Senju clan, their enemies hired the Uchiha clan. Madara just wanted to protect the Uchiha clan, back then and did horrific things and made many sacrifices to obtain such power. All of it went to waste when the Senju Clan offered a truce to the Uchiha clan and they agreed. When they finally formed their alliance they made Konoha and the land of fire."

"Is that it, for that?" Yuki poked her neck out a bit in curiosity.

"Not quite. The problem was who was to appoint the hokage. This is when a dispute started. Madara taking role of clan leader, opposed this decision. This made the entire clan turn their backs n him. It angered him further. Madara left the village betrayed by everyone. Once he disappeared at the valley of end, they thought it was the end of people like him. To make sure though, the second hokage had sighed a position of trust to them. This was when the Uchiha clan went down hill. They only assigned them to the police force because they could easily keep the Uchiha clan far away from governing. Then, that night the nine-tailed fox attacked was the night that everyone else began to distrust the rest of the Uchiha clan."

"Why?" Once again, she inquired.

"They believed that an Uchiha did it. The Uchiha clan is one of the only clans to be able to control the fox's chakra. I remember that night..." holding his baby brother as he cried so desperately into his arms. Hushing his little brother and that everything was alright because his big brother was there to protect him. Itachi lowered his head a little further. His face twitched as he fought to keep the same expressionless facade, "Everything had felt horrible wrong. Now I know who did it. They had a reason to suspect an Uchiha because it was truly Madara who took control of the nine tailed fox. After that they pushed the Uchiha clan into a corner to be supervised by the ANBU black ops. The Uchiha clan were planning to over take the village and... that's when they asked me to become a spy."

Yuki's heart sank into the pits of her stomach and she pulled away then. She shook her head furiously back and forth, "Madara has caused so much trouble. It's sickening."

"That's not what was most troubling. My father was the ring leader of this, so by his orders I was to be a spy for him, but instead I gave the village the information."

Honestly she didn't know how to feel about this, "Why? Why did you do it? You did betray your clan, but why?"

Itachi leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees and turned his head to her. This was the first time he glanced at Yuki the entire time he had been talking and explaining things to her. Just now when he looked at her, they weren't with those cold, distant eyes. No, they were truly peaceful. "As a boy, at the age of four, I was already exposed to a lot. I have seen it all. Death is a traumatizing experience for a four year old. My mind decided that I will not partake in this thing called war. I grew up to a peaceful man. I despise conflict and I'll avoid it when I can. So, in order to keep the peace of Konoha... I received that mission to kill my entire clan."

If possible, Yuki pulled herself away more from the Uchiha. The eagerness she once felt earlier waned. All she felt was anguish and despair. Her hands clutched on to her arms and she stared intently towards the wooden floors. "The torture you must have felt..."

"Indeed..." he replied simply, "Back then I was the only one with any clue that Madara was alive. I came forth to him, making him an offer. The 3rd hokage at the time tried desperately to seek another route but no one would hear him. Out of my love for the village and to not cause a civil war in our village because everything else would have collapsed...I made the ultimate sacrifice. And... as I told you before, there was one I could not kill. My little brother. I could not find it in my heart to kill him. But, I had to hide the truth from him. I had to tell him those words..."

_Run... run... and cling pitifully to your life._

Silence filled the room. The time they had been talking the weather outside had been changing. Clouds were rolling over the forest and the air became bitter. There had been no signs of Tobi or Deidara coming back. Good. Kisame, he was just out there fulfilling something else he had been given to do. Thunder cracked in the sky causing Yuki jump in the very spot she sat. Her eyes darted towards the window half expecting someone to come bursting through the door as a flash of lightning soared across the dark sky. Itachi noticed her jumpy behavior. Yuki soothed herself to ease back into the couch and then asked, "How is your brother not able to know the truth right now?"

The elder Uchiha brother ran his fingers through his hair. He pushed his bangs out of his face and tilted his head up towards the ceiling. His crimson eyes eased shut. "I pleaded with all my being to the third hokage that this was kept a secret from him after I left the village in dishonor. I begged him to keep this lie up to him and make him grow up believing the Uchiha were a proud clan through and through. And... he was able to grow up like that. When the 3rd died, I returned back to the village to let them all know that I was alive. I worry about my little brother, and everything I am doing is for him."

Her hands covered her eyes. This was a lot to take in. It was almost too much for her entire mind to comprehend just yet. _Okay, so...Itachi isn't a bad guy after all. Who would have figured. But, that explains so much. If I recall correctly when he fought Sasuke... he was still alive. I know Itachi is __strong enough to kill him. He just won't do it because he loves his little brother. It all makes so much sense now. _"This is too much to comprehend. You..."

She tightened her face up as she stood up from the couch and slumped against the wall. Yuki was on the opposite side of the room. Her form slowly slid down the wall. She was resting in a crouching position again. Tiredness wafted over her like it would have if she were slammed to the wall. She generally felt completely worn out. "You wanted to know the truth." he said.

Yuki clenched her teeth. _Damn_

He got her there. Yuki got what she wished for. Now it didn't seem so good. Itachi removed his own self from the couch and stood on the other corner of the room. He glanced aimlessly towards the corner of the wall. "To answer your questions earlier, Naruto Uzumaki... he has the blood of the Senju clan inside of him."

Stillness filled the living room of the small little cottage. Thunder and lightning accompanied each other outside as a soft drizzle began to fall down upon the earth. Yuki merely nodded her head. The story left her quite speechless. "Yuki," he began.

Suddenly the door busted open. The girl fell down on to her ass out of shock. Immediately her heart was sent into a tizzy. Itachi, however, just merely laid his eyes up. He knew who was coming in that door. Through the door Deidara and Tobi came sauntering in. It appeared the rain had started a heavy fall because the blond looked like he fell into a large body of water. The expression on his face said he wasn't amused. Deidara looked like a cat just got dragged in. A bitter glare was directed towards the elder Uchiha. "I see you two made it to the cottage just okay."

"What's your problem?" Itachi seem unaffected by the glare.

Deidara snapped, "What the hell do you think is my problem? Huh? Tobi and I looked for you, and looked for you, and look for you! We searched high and we searched low! You and Yuki were no place to be found! Especially in the spot that _you _said we would meet up at after the mission was over. Then it started raining on our way over here and I got ALL wet. My hair is ruined and the entire time I had Mr. Optimistic telling me something way worse could happen!"

Tobi touched Deidara's shoulder and quickly the blond shrugged it away, "But sempai, it's true! A tornado could have happened! Or maybe even something like a hurricane or earth quake!"

"Shut up," Deidara snapped.

Tobi glanced towards Yuki. Then turned and started trotting down towards the room he and Deidara slept in. Chills raced down Yuki's back and her eyes fluttered shut and her arms formed bumps. A soft waft-y breath escaped from her lips. The atmosphere inside the cottage was apprehensive, tense, and both her and Itachi were on the opposite sides of the room. Deidara wondered what possibly happened. Usually Yuki was all up on sticking by the Uchiha's side like a little leech. But now she was in the corner, looking scared, upset, and it seemed she was on the verge of tears. Itachi displayed no emotions. The clay master had no idea what might have went on. "Um... what happened?" he asked then.

Itachi was amazed by how quickly Deidara's fuse could be put out. He, on the other hand, didn't want to be questioned about the events that just happened between him and Yuki. That was just between them and them alone. Only they knew that Uchiha Madara is alive. Itachi had seen the worry in her eyes, the panic. She hadn't know what to say. It was simple, "Nothing."

He stood up from his chair and walked passed the clay master. He just looked between the two and Itachi passed through the door. He needed a little air. Every aspect of his mind was in turmoil. All the troubles from his past came crashing all at once. Soft rain pattered down on to the earth. Lightning flashed lighting the area up just for a moment. The cool air splashed upon his face leaving him to breath in deeply. His heart rate eased down as the aroma's of the crisp earth invaded his nose. The mix of the soil and trees was just a pleasant smell. Itachi enjoyed the out doors. Nature brought a sense of reality to him, sending all the troubling thoughts away from his mind.

From the window she watched his figure disappear into the darkness. Flickers of lightning made her able to catch those lasting glances at him. Her eyes lowered to the ground and then she turned to Deidara. He asked then, "What's going on."

Yuki frowned deeply then, "It's nothing Deidara. Just..."

Deidara saw how frustrated she looked. And she was. "I have to go make sure everything is okay. There are some weird things going on."

"Weird?" he responded.

Yuki bit her lip, "Look, it's nothing okay? I can;t tell you anyway."

The young woman rushed outside. The sound of rain was barely audible. It has seemed to calm besides for the roaring thunder and flare of the lightning. The leaves rustled in the balmy breeze and dripped water drops on to the ground. A cold one dropped on top of her head as she shifted through the branches that stuck its way through the path. "Itachi," she breathed lightly.

Itachi could hear her coming, but it was a little difficult to see her. The elder Uchiha stopped then and waited for her to catch up with him. Already his hair began to frizz out and dampen with the light rain that fell down. A bitter chill bit the back of his neck sending goose bumps to scatter across his skin. The Akatsuki cloak had gotten wet and the coldness from the cloth had touched his pale skin. He kept hearing her voice calling for his name gently. Yuki couldn't find him. With another flash of lightning a glimpse of his from appeared before her and she hurried towards him. Yuki cursed, "shit!"

Her foot impacted with a tree root sticking out from the ground. Yuki was about to fall down until she felt strong arms catch her. A flush came across her face knowing it was Itachi who had caught her from kissing the ground. At first she wasn't supposed to understand how she was feeling now. Her heart not longer sunk into the depths of her stomach. Now it felt like it was caught in her throat as she stared up. Itachi was in front of her now so she was able to see him much more clear. His hands gripped a little rougher on to her dainty forearms as he lifted her up to her feet. After she steadied herself she felt as if she should let go. Then another part of her told her that she just wanted to stay here for a bit longer.

A sense of warmth radiated from Yuki's body. Or maybe it was the heat that was now flushing over his entire body. After telling her such an intimate story there was more of a sense of closeness with her and him. The awkward moment they had shared few weeks ago now came flooding back between the two. Itachi stared down to her and a flicker of light flashed once more. Her emerald eyes shined brightly into his deep scarlet eyes. A sense of emotion overflowed inside of him. Unconsciously he began to lead forward. Closer to her face. The elder Uchiha was close enough know he could clearly hear her breath over the soft beating of the rain and the crackling thunder. He could feel the warmth of it wafting across his own face and he did something unimaginable. Itachi's lips pressed against Yuki's delicate lips.

Despite the clear signs of his presence getting awfully close to her, the tips of their noses just inches apart, she hadn't expected it. The Uchiha's lips felt like an explosion of perplexing emotions. Everything came to a complete stop. The air around them stopped circulating. Rain stopped falling down and the thunder and lightning could no longer be heard. The scent from the fresh earth no longer filled her nose. Instead it was this intoxicating aroma from Itachi's body that consumed the inside of her nostrils. Yuki's mind got lost in the kiss. What happened next just almost seemed like instinct. Her body guided her through the motions of her returning the kiss. Her hands moved up towards his broad shoulders where she grasped so tightly. She felt his arms slithering behind her. One hand dared ventured to cusp the back of her neck. In this single moment, all the worlds problems just faded and it just felt right.

Blustering thunder sounded throughout the atmosphere causing Yuki to tear away from the kiss. She gasped and she looked down immediately, "I-I-I'm sorry..." she spluttered.

Itachi hadn't let her go. Confused by what just happened he hadn't realized until her voice once again brought him back down to earth, "I didn't mean to trip on you."

"It's fine." he said and realizing her small frame was still held against him he quickly let go again. "Yuki." he said.

The girl looked up, "Yes, Itachi."

"There's a favor I must ask of you." He said as he started walking further up a head to a very small clearing.

Catching up she stood a few feet away from him, "I want you to watch over my little brother when I die."


	24. Fears In The Water

**AN: This chapter is kinda sucky. Writers block for this story has hit pretty hard.**

* * *

The temperature was fluctuated as the rain decided to either have a calm drizzle, or pour down madly. Lightning flashed through the sky and soon after came the rippling sound of thunder. Surprisingly the moon was illuminating the earth below. Clouds have spread few apart, away from the moon, leaving the light the spill upon everything underneath it. Two figures stood underneath the moon lit night. It had made it easier to make out the features of Yuki's face. Yuki found it easier to stare at Itachi's features. Though his sharingan eyes seemed to glow in the dark, Yuki couldn't look away. The sounds of his words rung like buzzing bees in her head. "What?" she said in disbelief.

Itachi felt he couldn't have been clearer in his request. "I said I want you to watch over my little brother when I d-"

Yuki cut him off before he could finish, "No, I heard what you said. I am just in shock, obviously. Why? Why are you assuming you must die?"

The rain made it difficult to tell if she was crying or not. Water was streaming down her face from different angles and hair desperately clung to her face. She stared at Itachi with such a pleading look in her eyes. Deep inside she felt her heart racing. Yuki pull away from the elder Uchiha and she stared out into the darkness of the surrounding trees. "How could you say such a thing? You have already lost the will to live? Just because what you did to your little brother?"

Itachi sighed rather softly then. He eased back against the tree that sat behind him. The elder Uchiha stared up towards the crying sky. His own hair clung to his face and frizzed out slightly. Itachi felt he was weight down a lot more by the Akatsuki cloak. It was dripping wet and sagged down along his slender form. What Yuki didn't seem to get was that this was the plan he had from the very beginning. Since he killed his entire clan and couldn't bring himself to kill his younger brother. It was the only way he could see ever redeeming himself ever again, in the eyes of his younger brother. "Yuki, you don't understand."

That calm voice of his rung through her ears so pleasantly. It was soothing. The very words that came from his mouth seemed to anger her a lot. Deep inside she felt the frustration of knowing he has his mind set already on this. To her it wasn't fair at all. Yuki spun on her heel in the wet mud and angrily stepped towards the Uchiha. She grasped tightly onto his wet Akatsuki cloak. Water rung through the cloth as her fingers clutched tighter on to it. "Obviously I don't understand!" she growled.

Itachi's hands raised and grasped on to her wrists. Somehow his menacing sharingan eyes looked a bit more peaceful when staring down at her. Though he shifted them side to side a few times giving off that ominous aura. "Look, we're going to have to talk about this later okay?" Itachi said.

Yuki furiously shook her head, "No, I want to talk about it now."

Suddenly his hands gripped tighter on to her wrists nearly surprising her in the sudden grasp of strength. "Look, we're going to talk about this later? Look." His head nudged towards the side.

Curiously Yuki turned her head around. Through the silent between him and her and nothing but the sound of rain pattering on to the earth, she heard another voice. "Itachi!" it called. It wasn't Tobi, or rather, Madara. Nor was it Deidara. The voice calling out was much deeper than that. A small little frown came across her face then. It was Kisame. There hasn't been much sign of the shark hybrid lately so he turning up now was actually angering. Yuki let go of Itachi's coat and turned around. "I guess I'll be going back to the cottage then." She announced.

For a few moments the elder Uchiha brother remained silent. His eyes burned on to Yuki's back. His voice calm, "We'll talk about it later."

All she did was nod her head and begin walking off. Kisame brushed by her and they bumped shoulders. Yuki didn't bother looking back she just kept going. Not even an apology. Kisame wasn't expecting one though. Immediately he turned his attention back to Itachi and stopped a few feet away from him. Itachi appeared to have been standing out here for hours now. Yuki must have been with him. Quickly his fish like eyes turned to the side and watched her disappear. Kisame cleared his throat, "You weren't back at the cottage and Deidara said you were out here. What's going on?" He didn't seem all too concerned though.

"None of your business," Itachi replied.

* * *

Morning time rolled around. The rain was gone and the sun was shining through scattered clouds in the sky. Yuki woke up to have a little bit of a clogged nose. A small frown came across her face as she sat up. Her lips pursed together. She looked around slightly to see if there was anyone in the living room or kitchen perhaps. The girl looked down and noticed she wasn't wearing the clothes from yesterday. In fact, her cloak was over there hanging on the kitchen counter drying along with her tank top of pants that were cut off from the knee. Instead, as she looked down, she saw this was Itachi's fishnet t-shirt. Not only that, she was wearing his pants. "Why am I wearing Itachi's clothes and how did I get into them?" After speaking that to herself she blushed hard.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall. She held the blanket up close to her body and she breathed in deeply. Kisame turned the corner and his eyes met her form. His hand pushed out of his sleeve and tossed her something. She looked down to see a red pill. "What's this?" she asked.

"Itachi told me to give it to you, it's a supplement." Kisame grunted.

Yuki stared down with much confusion in her eyes. "For what?"

Kisame shrugged, "I don't know."

There was clear annoyance in his voice because obviously she was just supposed to shut up and take the pill and not ask a million questions. She closed her eyes as she restrained from flipping a bitch fit to Kisame. Yuki's hands clutched tightly on to the pill and popped it into her mouth. She supposed it was supposed to help keep a cold from coming on or something. Itachi and Yuki were in the rain for a good amount of time last night. After the pill slid down her throat, she felt better almost right away. "Huh…" the congestion in her nose slowly began to go away. "Thanks." She looked up at Kisame.

Once again the shark hybrid merely shrugged. Not like he was the one who decided to give her that pill. "Don't be thanking me; Itachi was the one who gave it to you."

Yuki's eyes looked down as she nodded gently. "Yeah, you're right; he is the one who gave it to me."

The moment her eyes glanced up Kisame was already gone out the door. She just heard it shut. For a moment Yuki just kind of sat there. Kisame didn't seem to hate her exactly. They were more like strangers to each other. Yet, now that Deidara and Tobi were around he seemed to spend a lot of time away from the cottage. It made Yuki wonder if perhaps that he was jealous that his partner was taken away? Ah, well, whatever. Yuki didn't care. She simply stood up from the couch; Itachi's pants almost fell down to her hips. It was humid today due to the rain that fell down last night. Yuki frowned because she realized she was the only one around. Being alone was never really one of her favorite things in the world now. Thanks to Itachi, she actually liked _some _human interaction now. "I guess I'll be heading down to the lake then."

Yuki rolled his pants over on her hips a little bit so she doesn't have to worry about them falling down while she is walking. Her feet were sinking into the mud as she walked. It was still very soft from last night's rain fall. Yuki was almost a little disgusted to know that she was getting dirty from the mud. That just made her half tempted to turn back because what would have been the point of rinsing off in the lake if she was just going to get dirty walking back home? Maybe she would just explore a little bit then.

After about an hour of walking around the lake, she found a very nice peaceful rock to sit upon. It overlooked the lake and she saw over the top of trees. Her hands grasped around her knees as she looked out peacefully. The only bad part about being alone was that her thoughts were buzzing. They were running to last night and what Itachi told her. After they kissed too. She gritted her teeth and she let a big frustrated sigh. She fell back on the rock and she stared towards the sky. Yuki couldn't help but glare towards the clouds. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" she asked to no one in particular. She rolled over on to her stomach.

Something moved in the trees. The leaves were shaking. At first she thought it was a bird or a small rodent of some sort. The feeling she got from it was not of the sort. So quickly she got up to her feet and she glared towards the trees, "Who's there?" she asked dangerously.

A form jumped right on the rock next to her. Immediately she recognized who it was by the long flow of black hair in a pony tail. Yuki sighed as she eased back down. "Oh, it's just you, Itachi." She said as her hands on her knees.

Itachi arched an eyebrow towards her and sat down on his own little perch. "Who did you think it was?"

Yuki rolled her eyes gently as she sat criss-crossed on the rock. Yuki's hands brushed along her smooth pale legs. Her skin was a ghastly pale tone. It was as if she never received any sunlight. That was partially true. She scratched the back of her head for a moment, "Are you alone?" Yuki questioned.

The Uchiha brother nodded his head gently. His hands rested upon his knees. Those sharingan eyes were staring out towards the vastness of the forest, beautiful really. As the day went on the sun got a little bit harder. Soon that fresh scent of rain was beginning to disappear. Yuki stood up then and her hands came on to her hips, "When I woke up this morning, Kisame gave me a supplement pill. Apparently from you? Thanks." Yuki paused for a moment as some hair threatened to get inside of her mouth. Quickly she pushed the strands away from her mouth, "I think Deidara and Tobi left this morning."

There was a silence amongst them for a mere moment. Itachi spoke, "You were out in the rain for a good portion of the night. You would have gotten sick if I had not given you that pill. Then you'd be a liability, can't have that." Yuki frowned, he seemed to have this thing about him that showed he cared but insults still came from his mouth. "Yeah, Apparently Pein has called them back to the lair. I guess he is going to be giving them a mission."

However Yuki chose to ignore the beginning part of it. All she could think about was how he had also given her his dry clothes. "Also, thank you for uh… changing my wet clothes. Where did you get these?"

Itachi turned his head to the side. The girl noticed this and thought he might have been hiding something on his expression. His eyes lowered to the side away from Yuki. His cheeks so very lightly flushed but his brows pinched in annoyance. Not really the thing that should be brought up at the moment when there was a more pressing matter at hand. Itachi cleared his throat and uttered to her lightly, "It's no problem. You were going to get sick if you didn't get changed. I carry extra clothes with me now because we're away from the Akatsuki base."

Yuki nodded, she understood completely. She had almost forgotten the entire reason why she asked where Deidara and Tobi were. They weren't here right now. Quickly it came back to her head as she thought of Itachi, and her feelings for him. Then the thought of how he had taken his life into his hands and is so easily ready to toss it to Sasuke. "We need to talk, Itachi."

"I know," he replied.

Itachi jumped down on to the earth. Yuki peered over the rock and furrowed her brows. She was confused what he was doing. He just said he knew they needed to talk but he was walking away. Yuki puffed her cheeks out gently as she jumped down. Itachi was walking off and she was trailing behind him at his feet. She tied to peer over his shoulders to see if he had any emotion on his face. To get any indication of what he was thinking. Finally she got fed up with it and asked, "Hey, Itachi. Where are we going?" he didn't answer her, "Hey, Itachi. I'm talking to you."

He, out of a lot of people, should know she despised getting ignored. Her hands clutched to her side and resisted just grabbing on to his shoulder and asking him square in the eye. Yuki sighed heavily and did her best keeping her patience. "Itachi, I'm talking to you. Don't ignore me. I just want to know where you're going."

The path they were walking on was clear for the most part. A few stray roots from the trees nearby threatened to block their paths or cause an accident of someone tripping of no one was paying attention. Itachi coolly walked over these roots while Yuki stepped on them in order to keep up with him. It was a very narrow trail so she had no choice but trailing at his feet. Finally there was a more of an open clearing ahead. The Uchiha brother pushed some branches out of the way and they were brought to the base of the mountain. Steam was floating up and her eyes were brought to the floating steam. Yuki was finally able to step right beside him and she looked down a little further. It appeared to be natural hot springs. "Why all the way out here?" she questioned softly.

Itachi shrugged off his Akatsuki cloak and started to peel off his shirt, shoes, and pants. He rested them near a small rock. "It's far away from the cottage, so Kisame won't have a chance of butting in and interrupting our conversation." Itachi was just left in his boxers and moved behind the rock. "And besides, I'm long due for some relaxation."

Next thing you know she saw his boxers being placed on the ground. Yuki crawled closer to his him from his chest up, she saw. Her eyes directed over to the side. Slowly she ran her hand up and down along her arm. She felt really nervous about this. Not like it was often she stripped naked in front of a man. "Um, how are we supposed to, talk… you're in there and I just can't, well… you know."

Itachi sighed rather impatiently as he tried sinking down further in the water to feel the warmth envelope his body. All the muscles were beginning to relax. It was much bliss to him to be sitting in here. Itachi could probably dose off. The sloshing of water was soft as he moved his hand smoothly from the water to point to an opening in the springs but a wall of boulders covered part of it. There was another opening to the side where she could enter. Yuki smiled and scratched the back of her head. She nodded it gently as she wandered over there.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Yuki was swimming into the area where Itachi was resting. Itachi was beginning to dose off. His eyes were closed peacefully and the sounds of nature were calming white noise to his ears. The birds chirping and the occasional cricket that made a sound. Off in the distance there was a waterfall. Naturally it echoed to locations that were miles away in the mountains. But, the sounds of Yuki moving through the water had made his charcoal eyes flutter open. Yuki was close enough to see his eyes were not the ominous crimson sharingan. Without his menacing stare going through her soul, it made Yuki feel a little bit more comfortable. She pushed her back against the rock behind her. "Itachi, I really don't like the fact that you're so willing to give your life up to your little brother like that."

The elder Uchiha stared at her calmly, "Do you understand why I want to give my life away?"

Did she? Yuki figured the reason why he has made this decision. "I think I know why you decided too. But, I wouldn't exactly completely understand why you're doing it. They are your feelings and I know you conflicted with what you felt your duty was when it happened. I've killed many but that wasn't exactly me."

"Earlier you said you didn't understand." Itachi replied

Yuki rolled her eyes and huffed a little bit, "I have had some time to think, obviously. It has been one night I had the chance to think about it."

Itachi put his hand up to get her to calm down, "Yuki, you don't have to get so..." he could say crazy because that could be seen as offensive to her, "riled up. I get what you're saying."

A soft mumbled came from her lips, "Then why? Oh never mind."

Yuki concentrated on the water. She could see her naked form in the water but she was far away enough she couldn't see anything and knew Itachi couldn't see anything either. With the hot water producing the steam, it also obscured the vision. The girl shook her head as she pushed her forest green locks away from her face, "But just because of that well…It still doesn't change the way I feel. I really like you, Itachi. I know it seems to sudden but ever since you first told me…" her eyes wandered away because she kind of forced him to tell her, "It… had explained a lot to me at the time and decided maybe I should try harder to get to understand and become more sociable. That and also because I felt completely guilty for getting you drunk so you could tell me such a deep personal story. I feel… good to know that without being drunk you were able to tell me everything. It must have been conflicting."

A bug flew by her face making her jerk back a little bit. Her hand swatted the bug but felt embarrassed doing it. She felt like a retard swatting at the air. "So, you think there is another way?"

Yuki nodded her head, "Yeah… there is always another way. Haven't you ever heard of the saying there is more than one way to skin a cat?" Itachi smirked slightly. His right hand came up to brush his dark locks away from his soft facial features. One that he has inherited a lot from his mother. Yuki chuckled a bit and let her own smirk come across her face. "Well, anyways, I know that if you gave your life to Sasuke that you feel you have repented. But, maybe you can repent for the deeds you have done another way. Just… disappear. You and me, we can run and hide somewhere. All the while we can keep your eyes on Sasuke, and indirectly guide him in life. Protecting him from Madara's clutches can be your way of helping him."

The elder Uchiha stared down towards the hot water. Pain was going through his eyes right now. He has used his technique too many times. Eventually the agony went to his head and gave him a searing headache. He lowered himself further into the hot spring to help relieve the pain. Itachi was seriously going to give this consideration. Yuki cocked her head gently to the side then and her hands were resting on her knees. Her skin was slowly beginning to turn pink. She lightly parted her lips before she poke, "Itachi. What are you thinking? Are you going to answer me?" she whispered.

Slowly Itachi drew his body upwards and water dripped down his chest. "I need to think about it for a little while, okay?" Itachi responded.

Yuki nodded her head. Honestly, she was hoping he would have answered her by now. That's when she figured their conversation was done then. She began to draw herself back towards the one opening. "Please answer me soon though. Because, I would really like it if well… I… or we possible could explore these feelings a little bit more."

Itachi felt his heart clutch then. He turned up and something came across his face that she had never seen on that impassive look before. His lips turned up into a very gentle smile. Yuki just stared at him. She honestly didn't think Itachi was capable of smiling. Yet, she saw it. However small it was, it was still a smile. "That… does sound nice."


	25. Rising Sun

**AN: Finally, chapter 25! I apologize deeply if it seems like things are moving along fast now. I have just taken so long to develope anything romantic between Yuki and Itachi I realized it took TOO long. DX. So, please bear with me, I'm going to try and finish the rest of this story off in 5 or 6 chapters hopefully. Review, plz~**

* * *

A few days have passed since the talk between Yuki and Itachi. These few days have proved to be agonizing to be waiting in anticipation for Itachi's answer. Still to this moment, he hasn't given it to her. Yuki was growing impatient for it. Thinking about it was driving her insane and so she did things around the cottage, even if it had been done already, to keep her mind busy. Deidara had walked into the kitchen. He came in barefoot and without his cloak. "What are you doing here? Itachi told me that you were going out on a mission."

Deidara pulled a small cup out and poured some water into it from the sink. He leaned back against the counter. The clay master took a nice long drink. He used his arm to wipe the water on the top of his lip. His blue eyes now on her, "We do have a mission. Tobi and I are moving out today, actually, un."

"Sounds interesting, what are you supposed to do?" Yuki inquired.

Once Deidara put the cup back into the sink Yuki was quick to clean it. The blond arched an incredulous brow her way. She must have been terribly bored to be doing a single dish right when it entered the sink. "You know how the Akatsuki is after the tailed beasts, right, yeah?" Yuki nodded her head to confirm she knew the goals of the Akatsuki. "Tobi and I are heading out today to go capture one of the tailed beasts. I believe Pein has requested to see Itachi and Kisame too, in fact. I believe they are on their way to catch another one of the tailed beasts. We have to get them in order, un."

Yuki gently cocked her head to the side and looked at him, "In order, how come?" she questioned.

There wasn't a lot about the Akatsuki that she knew. Pein worked so hard to get her to join their organization for whatever reason. A good aspect to getting the tailed beasts he probably thought. So test her out. If it didn't work she didn't have much of an idea of what he would do to her. He hasn't seen or heard that because she isn't in control of herself that it's her greatest downfall in that strength and why she has lost against those other guys. They must have hid well because she hasn't seen or heard a peep out of them for a while. "It's actually because the statue we use to obtain these beasts Jinchuriki, has to be balanced. So if we put the nine tailed fox's chakra in first then the statue would crumble."

At first she was paying attention. She caught why it had to be done in order. Then she just kind of started going off into her own little world. Yuki's eyes were looking out the window. Her stare was intent as her thoughts were buzzing. She needed to start training because if Itachi got sent on a mission, wouldn't the leader want her to tag along or something? She needed to train, and she still sort of needed just a little bit of help with that because certain things couldn't be done on your own. "Deidara," she said then, "I have a favor to ask of you."

Deidara was curious now. There was a favor she needed of him and even if they were friends now he wouldn't have expected her to ask him for a favor. She was just so reliant on Itachi all of the time, "What do you need me to do, yeah?"

Yuki pulled her bottom lip in, "Do you think you could make me some explosives? I need to start training to push my limits further before, well… you know. And, I want to put them in a specific part of the dummy to where I know if I hit them in the wrong spot, they'll explode. Think you could do that for me? I want to be able to put the explosives in there myself."

A large grin came across his face, followed by a deep chuckle. "Will I be able to do it? Please, Yuki, you question my abilities and it hurts me. I am _the _clay master. I am a master of explosives. I'll be able to give you some bombs in a little bit. I have to make them first but I can give them to you before Tobi and I head out on your mission later on today. Okay?"

Yuki chuckled as she leaned back against the refrigerator. "Thank you Deidara, it's a big help."

The blond clay master still continued to grin ear from ear, "It's no problem. I'm glad to be able to help."

Deidara had given her the bag of explosives, there were a lot. The other day she had already made plenty of dummies from sacks she found in the cellar of the cottage and grass and leaves from the trees around. Grass was everywhere too. Sewing them together had been a bitch. It took her four hours to find a needle of the sort. She had to pluck the thread from her black cloak in order to sew it together. It had been done though. Yuki had also played hell trying to get them all there. Now all that was left was to take these explosives to the training site. Deidara have given her a warning that if the bag fell, or she tripped there would be a big boom and she probably wouldn't ever wake up again.

* * *

Yuki was outside, quite a distance away from the cottage. It was around mid afternoon where the sun was beginning to cool down. The intense heat wouldn't make her body less fatigued and she could be out for a little longer working hard. No longer was she going to be counting on Itachi to monitor her training. She figured if she was going to grow and mature as a shinobi then she was going to have to teach herself. Yuki took her black cloak and straw hat off. She set them down beside the tree and walked into the middle. She looked up, there were too many trees crowding the area. Knocking a few down seemed the only solution to having more room. Yuki could move to a different spot, but the quietness and distance away from the cottage is what she needed.

Trees came trampling down, showing some of the dummies she place in a clearer view. It would make hitting the targets a little bit easier for her. Yuki struggled to pull some of the massive tree trunks away. Compared to her itty bitty body, her hauling a tree trunk might have looked impossible if she were a regular person. As a Shinobi her strength was more than just a civilian. Still, it was a lot of effort to pile them in one spot so they continued to stay out of her way. Sweat was dripping down the side of her face once she was completed with it. Yuki crawled over to a spoke under an undestroyed tree and decided to take a little break for a moment.

Yuki only took a break for about ten minutes. Once she caught her breath she was back on her feet and ready to start her training. She dug around behind a bush and pulled out a sack of kunai. She had her own in her pouch bit she was going to need more than one. Yuki's eyes narrowed at the first dummy she caught a glimpse of. Her hand gripped tightly to the kunai in hand. With a flick of her arm the kunai went soaring out of her hands and to the dummy. If she didn't hit the right spot the entire dummy would explode, and it did. The explosion that came from it was much stronger than expected. Debris came flying towards her. Yuki quickly brought her arms to guard her face. Rocks, dirt, and grass were blown her way. It stung as the rocks hit her skin but some really just hurt. They weren't itty bitty pebbles; they were small stones coming her way!

The dust had settled and she stared at the exploded dummy, "Dammit, Deidara, you made them a little _too_ strong."

Yuki brushed off her shirt and looked towards the other dummies lying around the field. She almost felt not like doing this anymore. The explosives wouldn't kill her but by the end of today she probably would be scraped and bruised. Yuki shook her head a little bit and told herself, "That'll just be more reason for me to not hit anywhere else but the target."

Before picking up more kunai, she wiped the top of her forehead. Then continued on with her training, Yuki was determined to get stronger her way and not rely on the other her to keep her from being killed. Even better, Itachi won't have to babysit her all the time either.

* * *

Mid afternoon was usually a nice thing. The sun wasn't too hot. Nights didn't get cold either but there were a few times where the temperature proved to be frigid. Kisame and Itachi were closing in on the Akatsuki base. Itachi hadn't seen the reason why they would have to head to the base and face the leader personally. They could have just went to see him from where they were without having to move from their spot. Kisame was also just a little bit upset about this and spoke gently underneath his breath, "Itachi-san, why do you think leader has called to personally see us?" Kisame inquired.

"Why in the world would I know, Kisame-san?" Itachi arched an eyebrow his way.

Kisame just gave a toothy grin and chuckled after that. His hands swung by his side. Itachi's hands were pulled in, leaving his sleeves to dangle and go to and fro by his side. They entered inside of the hideout. Pein was standing there with his back turned to Kisame and Itachi as they entered. They didn't have to speak because the leader had already turned around to face the tall shark hybrid and the shorter Uchiha brother. Those grey eyes burned on to his men that stood before him, "Just as I expected of you Itachi-san, Kisame-san, always on time."

Itachi's red eyes shut tightly, "Of course."

Pein cleared his throat as he was starting to pace around gently, "I am safe to assume that both of you know why I have summoned you here."

Itachi's eyes narrowed dangerously his way. "Of course, but why did you have us come all the way out here in person? It seems unpractical."

Pein just seemed to stare at the Uchiha, unaffected by show of disrespect to leader. Pain just yawned gently and he set down the scroll in front of him which had nothing to do with the tailed beasts. "There are other matters that I wish to discuss with you, Itachi-san. I'm sure you can guess you know what I am talking about."

The calm look on his face had seemed to deepen into a frown. Others would argue that there wasn't much of a change in his facial expression. Itachi however, knew exactly what the leader was talking about, Yuki. It has been a while since Pein has asked about her progress and such. Right about now was probably due for an update on her progress. "By the look in your eyes you probably already what I'm going to ask," Pein spoke.

"Slowly she is making progress. Her disability has proved more than enough times that it's a hindrance than helpful. The people, who have been bugging us for a while, get the upper advantage on her. Yuki has taken it upon herself to begin her training by herself." Itachi's voice was calm.

Pein's eyes flittered from Itachi down to the scroll on to the table and then back towards Itachi. His grey eyes stared and he brushed his fingers through his strands of hair. "You and Kisame will be going after the tailed beasts. Bring Yuki with you. This will finally prove if she will be a helpful asset to getting the tailed beasts. It appears we have been losing more members lately, and it's causing the progress to slow down a little bit. All in all, if she proves worthy she will be helping you gain the nine tailed fox."

The idea of this didn't see too well in Itachi's mind. He knew her strengths and he knew her weakness's. At this point it appeared Yuki had plenty more weakness's then strengths. Right now, she wasn't ready to help them catch the tailed beasts. Already he could see the scenario playing out in his mind and it wasn't a pleasant one. Itachi tried to reason with the leader, "I think it's too soon."

Kisame stood there watching his partner talk with the leader. Part of him was slightly curious on what was going through the Uchiha's head. There was something changing with Itachi and made him wonder what. But, he stood there obediently and let his little fish eyes stare on. "What do you mean, 'you don't think she is ready?'" Pein arched an incredulous brow.

Itachi sighed rather impatiently, "For the past months I've been watching Yuki, when you first requested Kisame, Deidara, and I to capture her, she was what you would call…immature. At the time she resembled much of a child. Underneath my influence of course, her attitude has changed, slightly. Yuki's behavior is still of a young teenager. I don't think she is mentally capable of dealing with such a task."

Slowly Pein could feel his own patience wearing thin, "I don't care, Itachi-san. You're going to bring Yuki along with you capturing the tailed beasts. After all three of you capture the tailed beast successfully, you will report back to me. Got it, Itachi-san?"

His grey eyes narrowed at the man with as equally terrifying eyes as him. Itachi had not feared the leader, and glared right back. Despite this though, Itachi knew it was completely useless to press the matter even further now. Itachi took a step back and his back turned towards Pein. "Fine," Itachi's voice was firm, "Yuki will be accompanying Kisame and I on our mission." The sound of his feet meeting the floor of the headquarters echoed off along the walls. "Kisame, let's go."

_Interesting,_ Kisame thought rather amused. Naturally he gave a toothy green as his eyes gave one last glance to their leader than back towards Itachi as he turned around. Both of them walked away from the Akatsuki base and back out towards the opening. His hands were swinging by his side and looked down towards his much shorter partner. His raven hair blew delicately in the wind as it lightly brushed against their skin. "So, what was that back there, Itachi-san?" Kisame asked.

For a moment the elder Uchiha was deep in thought. His mind was just swirling with scenarios about the capturing mission of the tailed beast and how it was possibly going to turn about. It actually took a few moments for Kisame's voice to register in Itachi's ears. Yet, he played it off so coolly. "What do you mean, Kisame?"

Kisame chuckled deeply, "What do you mean, what do I mean? You should know what I'm talking about."

Kisame had kind of left it off for Itachi to answer. There was silence though. Just slightly aggravated Kisame continued on, "The tension between you and Pein, it was obvious. You would have to be stupid to not sense something like that." Itachi continued to remain silenced, not at all bothered by the fact the elder Uchiha was silently annoyed with the shark. It was constantly like these between the two. Kisame just shrugged slightly then, leaving it as that, since truly Kisame's wish was to merely get along with his partner, because after all the elder Uchiha certainly proved to be quite interesting. Itachi's hands were pulled inside of his sleeves, "Let's just head back to the manner and retrieve Yuki-san."

"Sure, Itachi-san," Kisame then gave a rather toothy grin.

* * *

Huffing incredibly, Yuki lied in the middle of the forest floor her eyes stared blankly towards the skies. She was utterly tired, but it had been a good training session for her none the less. Leaves were scattered everywhere. Some had mixed with her forest green locks and her eyes glanced towards the side. Sweat dripped down the side of her face and wondered where Itachi had been. Yuki curled up on to her backside and crossed her legs a bit. A gentle whiff, she got a good smell of herself. "Yuck, I stink…" she uttered underneath her breath.

The moment she stood on her feet Itachi came out of nowhere. The girl jumped at his sudden appearance. A small blush came across her face, rather embarrassed by the fact he caught her off guard, "Itachi-san, you're back."

"You have a mission." He said.

Yuki looked rather shocked, "What, a mission? Why? With who and what are we doing?"

Slightly annoyed but kept calm none the less as his peaceful stare kept on her form, "Yes a mission, because Pein has ordered me to bring you along and Kisame will be with us. What we're doing is catching one of the tailed beasts."

"B-but!" she stuttered, "I don't think I'm ready how? Can't I just stay?"

Itachi shook his head, "No there is no other way. Pein has made it extremely clear. This is his test to you, Yuki-san."

The girl's shoulders slumped as she sighed in defeat, "Fine then. I will shower first and I'll be ready to go."

Itachi watched Yuki walk back off towards the cottage. That's when his eyes scanned over towards the field. Kisame stepped beside him and looked at the destruction. "So she has taken it upon herself to start training. I wonder what happened, that made her take this initiative, eh, Itachi-san?"

The elder Uchiha turned around then and started walking down the dirt path, "Who knows." And those lips curled to a small smile then. Yuki was making a rather noticeable change now.


	26. Violent Kiss

**n.n here is chapter 26. I shall warn you in advance, things get slightly steamy. Nothing full (yet) but there is touching of the sorts. Well, hope you enjoy the update. This is my longest chapter yet, but I'm really trying to move things along fast, and make it believable. Review please? ^^;**

* * *

Downgrading where you live was always a huge problem. The Akatsuki members that were living in this small little cottage had once dwelled in a nice large mansion. Sure there were Akatsuki hide outs scattered around the nation, but when you were hiding from somebody who was out to get the Akatsuki, a typical hiding place wasn't safe. Itachi, Deidara, Kisame, and Yuki often had problems with the water in the cottage. Unfortunately, when Yuki was planning to take her shower the water chose to stop working then too. She sighed irritably as she rubbed her forehead back and forth." Dammit, I need a shower." She grumbled.

Instead, Yuki was going to that spring she was at a few days ago to wash up. She grabbed the shampoo, conditioner, soap, and the towel. She wrapped the items inside of the cloth so she didn't have to carry them all and risk dropping something along the way. As she was about to walk out the cottage door, Itachi came in. "Where are you going?" he asked. The elder Uchiha arched an incredulous brow towards her.

"I'm going to go wash up." She stated.

"Where? The shower is right over there."

Yuki sighed softly, "The water isn't working again so I'm going to the springs to wash up. I'm not leaving on a mission when I'm not bathed because who knows how long it will be before I am able to bathe again."

Even if Yuki was a little different from a lot of women, there was one thing that still made her one. The need to have well kept hygiene. "Kisame's impatience had him move ahead. This is his tailed beast, but the leader made it clear that Kisame will not be alone on this mission." The shark hybrid had to wait for them.

Yuki brushed past the elder Uchiha and rolled her eyes as she was walking away. "You make it sound like I'm going to take all day to wash myself."

In the far distance, clouds loomed over. They were slowly creeping their way south. It seems rain was threatening to pour over the land. If they were lucky, Itachi, Kisame and Yuki wouldn't come across that weather on their mission. Itachi followed behind her to the springs. Yuki knew he was following her but thought he would stop and wait after a certain amount of distance. However, that quite wasn't the case. Itachi has kind of seen her nude but not completely nor has he seen her bathe herself. She stopped and inclined her head to the side a bit, "Why are you following me?" she inquired.

There wasn't a big deal with following. Not the way he saw it, "Why would I wait for you to return? After you take your bath, leaving would be the most logical answer. We're already keeping Kisame waiting as it is."

How she did not see that coming not even she knew. Yuki shrugged her shoulders and started walking anyways. Itachi hadn't completely followed her; he stopped right before the spring and made himself comfortable underneath a tree. It was late in the afternoon; sometime tomorrow hopefully they will have spotted their designated tailed beast. Itachi's eyes eased shut as he patiently waited for Yuki to finish bathing. Thirty or so minutes have passed and he heard the splashing stop. "Are you done Yuki?" there was that tone of intolerance in his voice.

The elder Uchiha had stood and walked into the opening but she hadn't been there in the spring. However when he turned his head he spotted her and she was just in her bra and underwear. Yuki attempted to cover herself with her hands but he didn't seem fazed that she was standing there in front of him in just her under garments. Yuki's face was turning a deep shade of red. It was from both anger and embarrassment. Itachi hadn't seen why she was so flustered, she was covered. Yuki then just crossed her arms firmly across his chest. "W-what are you doing?" she shouted.

Itachi's strides were elegant as he kept walking towards her. Each step he took forward, she took back. "I was seeing what was taking you so long. You stopped making sounds so I thought you drowned." There had been a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Maybe if you were a little more pate-"her sentence was cut off by her backing up into a tree.

There was nowhere else for her to go and Itachi was just a few steps away from her. He inched closer and once again her face was burning hot. There were feelings Itachi felt, like ones he haven't quite felt before, ones that he couldn't recall if he ever had. As he stared at Yuki, there was just something that made him so curious. His arm outstretched and his palm firmly placed itself against the tree bark. Yuki felt her stomach twist up in knots as she stared up towards the elder Uchiha so nervously. "What's wrong?" he inquired.

"What do you mean, what's wrong?" Her voice got higher at the end of each sentence as she spoke.

Again she gulped deeply. Her eyes watched his expression. It was unchanging but there was such a difference as she stared into his eyes. They seemed softer, more peaceful. It was almost peculiar how much they changed in over the time her and Itachi conversed with each other. Itachi guided his hand to cup underneath her chin and pull her head up further. "Your face is red."

"Y-You're so close…" she said, "And well...I'm in my underwear an-"

She was cut off from speaking by him leaning down a bit further and placing his lips over hers. Something sparked deep from them both and her head got slightly busy. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. Yuki returned the kiss with passion. Itachi pulled away when he wanted to go for a breath of air. He stared down at her as she continued to gaze up at him. There was a silence between them. Surprisingly it wasn't awkward. Her eyes fluttered shut as she reached out for his face and pulled him down into another deep kiss.

Itachi was slightly surprised when Yuki had pulled him down for the kiss, however he returned it with much as much passion before. He felt his face beginning to heat up as the blood was beginning to rush throughout his body. His hand reached to cup her face and pulled her in more. Yuki's hand went from the side of his face down to his waist. He enjoyed the feel of her dainty finger tips pressing into his clothes. The warmth from her hands could be felt through the layers of fabric. Itachi eventually broke the kiss between them, and then just stared at her for a few moments. When he stared into her eyes, there was a feeling inside of him that he rarely ever felt. His eyes just eased shut and kissed at the corner of her mouth.

Yuki's breath became hitched as his gentle butterfly kisses moved their way across her face and to her jaw line. Itachi went down to her neck where he was a few inches away from her silky skin. His warm breath wafted across her neck, and it formed chills that viciously raced down her spine. Her body just locked up for a moment as she wasn't entirely sure what to do. "Relax," he spoke and it was followed by his lips moving on her neck. His mouth opened to bring some of her flesh into it. Her skin had tasted extremely sweet, he had to have more.

The girl gulped softly as he devoured her neck. Her cheeks began to flush a very light tint of pink. Yuki pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and relaxed against the tree. If she wasn't careful she was sure her knees would have given out and she would have collapsed on to the ground. His hands moved from the small off her back and went over her rear end and grabbed a hold of it. It was so soft to the touch. The best thing about a woman's body was how supple it was. Itachi indulged on the feel of Yuki's body. "Mmm," he hummed softly. Yuki's fingers then rested on the hem of his shirt, she slowly started to inch it up along his body, her other hand followed only to soon press her palm flat on to his abs.

Her toes curled into the soil below her feet. Itachi maneuvered a bit so his shirt was easier to remove from over his head. Yuki honesty wasn't sure what she was doing, but her movements were just what felt like pure instinct. Her hands trembled along the Uchiha's flesh. Yuki stopped them at his chest and her digits massaged deeply into his skin. Yuki leaned forward to kiss along his neck. One hand slipped to his back to reach for his hair. Her fingers gently tugged at the band that kept his hair in place which caused for his hair to glide along his back. Her fingers indulged in his silky tendrils. She pressed her body closer to his and it was even hotter than before. A soft breath eased out from her lips which sent chills down Itachi's spine.

His fingers reached back to the clasps of her bra and unhooked them. He fumbled with it a little bit because the clasps refused to let go. Her breasts fell free as his hands greedily began to massage the soft flesh. He bit his bottom lip delicately as his thumbs rolled over the sensitive nubs on her bosom, they hardened by his touch.

However, this made Yuki feel just a little uncomfortable. "W-wait…" she uttered softly.

Itachi pulled away and looked calmly down at her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Yuki gulped and brushed his hands off of her and covered her breast. "I-I…" she didn't have to say she was uncomfortable. It was written all over her face. "We have a mission to do anyways." She announced as she went to grab her bra off from the ground and she put it back on.

Itachi was slightly surprised she had stopped. Yuki had been relaxed for a while, and wondered what it was. His thoughts would remain silent to himself though. Itachi wasn't the type of person to press an issue that wasn't entirely important, nor did he force himself on a woman. She was right though, they had a mission to attend to. Kisame was off somewhere waiting for them anyways. The girl looked thoroughly flustered as she was getting her clothes on. She fumbled around to put her red tank top on. She seemed to have even more trouble as she tried to pull her legs through her bottoms. However she was able to slip them on fully and she buttoned them.

Yuki breathed out and noticed she was still shaking. Her eyes burned into the ground as she was seriously thinking. "No," she told herself. Her mind would constantly be distracted if she allowed these thoughts to flow through. For now, she would just brush off what happened. She walked back and Itachi had his clothes gathered and he still looked as composed as ever. "Let's go." She said.

His critical eyes watched Yuki fumble right ahead of him.

* * *

Impatiently, the shark hybrid was waiting. The sun was already making its way past the mountain. How long did it take Itachi to get the girl and get moving? That hadn't made any sense to him, but it also was whatever to him. Even if Kisame questioned Itachi why it took so long, he would give such a vague answer. Their partnership was a strange, but a mutual one. Their personalities were so different. Kisame was loud and destructive and Itachi was calm, but deadly. "Come on Itachi," he complained as his leant against the tree and stared out into the vastness of the forest.

In the distance there were two figures walking, one was ahead of the other. Kisame's bitty fish eyes couldn't entirely make out the figures, but the chakra clearly read that it had been Itachi and Yuki. "About damn time," he said aloud when they got closer.

Yuki frowned at Kisame and he didn't care. The girl didn't scare him, because it seemed after all that she wasn't as strong as she was. "What took you guys so long?" he asked.

"Ask Yuki," Itachi simply stated.

The girl felt odd when Kisame stared at her with those shark like eyes of his. They were truly creepy in their own way. Akatsuki was just filled with weirdoes, from what she remembered when she was first kidnapped. "Well, what took you guys so long?"

Yuki simply crossed her arms and walked passed Kisame. She would have upturned her nose but she realized that it was probably a little childish of her to do such. That was something she was trying to break out of now. "I was washing up. I had to bathe before we left because who knows when I will next see soap."

As a woman, Yuki did need to bathe. It was essential to her so she was not sickened by her own smell. Kisame rolled his eyes, "Women," he uttered.

Yuki she brushed off Kisame's obvious displeasure and kept walking forward, "Well are we going to do this or what?"

Kisame just brushed past Yuki, basically letting her stumble to the side a little bit. He certainly was brash sometimes. Usually he had the 'I really don't give a fuck about you' attitude towards Yuki, and didn't bother her. Yuki was Itachi's problem from his point of view. "What the hell is you're problem?" she furrowed her brows towards the shark hybrid.

"The fact that you're coming along," Kisame replied simply.

Yuki arched an eyebrow, "So what's wrong with that, you don't think I'm capable?"

That was a lot for her to say because if she was honest with herself, not even she thought she was capable of doing this. Kisame sighed heavily, "My problem is that this is supposed to be my prey. Yet, here you are because the leader said you had to be because he wants to see your abilities? Why did it have to be my prey?"

Yuki rolled her eyes, "So you're really sore about that?"

"Yes, I wanted to go by myself anyways."

Itachi had enough of both of their bickering, "Kisame shut up. This isn't Yuki's fault, now stop aggravating her."

Kisame gave Itachi a confused look. Where was Yuki's scolding? Usually she was the one to get the sting of the Uchiha's tongue first. However, that was not the case this time. "Orders are orders, the four tails is still your prey. Leader just wants to see if she can rough him up a bit. You will do the rest after."

The shark hybrid wasn't all that happy right now. He was confused and infuriated by Itachi's behavior and Yuki's behavior. Another heavy sigh came out and he continued walking forward then. "Whatever." He muttered underneath his breath, "Let's move out."

Yuki followed after the shark hybrid and crossed her arms tight against her chest. "Fine with me." She mumbled.

Yuki quickly passed up Kisame to get ahead of both of them. She was a little eager, maybe too eager. Maybe she was just trying to forget what happened early. It was the only plausible reasoning to Itachi. He followed behind quickly, impressed how she was able to quickly collect herself. When they left she was just stumbling away and now her strides were smooth. "Patience," Itachi spoke calmly as he followed after her.

* * *

A fire blazed in the middle of where their camp was set up. The three-man team covered a lot of ground despite the fact that Itachi and Yuki decided to delay their search a bit by their antics earlier. Yuki's mind had been flooded with those thoughts the entire time they were searching. Her mind wasn't in the game, but she gave a convincing act that she was in it. It was good enough to convince Kisame. Itachi saw through her act. It was distracting to him to see her so distracted. She sat far away from the fire, further away from the light it gave off. She seemed to be thinking on her own. Kisame was off on the exact opposite side of Yuki. Itachi was the only one who sat closet to the burning flame.

Yuki constantly was turning her head to the side to peer towards Itachi. Her mind was flooded with the actions that had occurred earlier. She wasn't sure what to make of them. Feelings just jumbled around in her mind, and in a way it was driving her absolutely insane. She felt it was only appropriate maybe she spoke to Itachi about this. "Itachi," Yuki softly spoke, not wanting to wake Kisame up.

Itachi barely heard her voice but he turned his sharingan eye gaze towards the girl. "What is it, Yuki?" he responded.

"Could you come here real quick?" she asked.

Without any further questions he simply pushed himself off the ground. His walk was short, but quite eloquent. He then eased himself right next to her. "What's wrong?" he inquired with actual concern in his voice.

"Well," she began not really knowing where she wanted to start, "I was thinking about what happened earlier, between us."

Itachi's hunch was right. Yuki's mind was occupied the whole time about what happened. "What's bothering you about what happened?"

"Didn't that feel… weird to you?" she asked.

The look she gave him with her emerald eyes was desperate. She was searching those piercing crimson eyes of his for any sign of emotion. Even if it was just a small hint of it, yet it was like searching for a needle in the haystack. It was there, but underneath it all. He didn't respond but instead looked away from her. "Why did you do it, I should say… there has to be a reason you did it, right?" she asked.

She bit her bottom lip as she waited for the Uchiha brother answer her. Itachi sighed because he wasn't sure how to express it. "Why did you stop it?" he just asked her a question.

Yuki almost couldn't believe this, "Because I was wondering why you were doing it in the first place. Before you didn't seem to be open to your emotions and all of sudden you're… well… yeah" she tried to explain it but she found it embarrassing to even mutter how he touched her.

Itachi just kept his gaze away from her. How was he to explain this to her? How did one who pushed back his feelings for so long, explain how he felt? Itachi gulped silently as he looked towards her. "I'm not sure, Yuki. I can honestly say that maybe I didn't realize anything until we've really started talking more."

"I'm trying to understand you more…?" she whispered.

Itachi merely nodded his head. The time he confided in Yuki about his past deeds, to protect his brother, and the village really helped the one sided feelings from Yuki to become something more mutual. Yuki just nodded her head and she understood where it was coming from now. "I've felt _something _for you the night I got you drunk, then maybe it was just pity. I just know that pity went something more but I still can't find a way to explain it. Considering my origins, how I raised myself and my… multi-personality disorder, I'm not exactly how to explain feelings." In order to explain it you had to understand it.

Itachi turned his gaze towards her and she scooted in closer. Yuki peered over her shoulder cautiously to stare at the shark hybrids' sleeping space. He seemed well asleep, and she turned back towards Itachi. Her hand grabbed for his, and she went to move more on to the Uchiha, "I-if you don't mind. I want to try and give it another chance, what we did earlier."

Itachi coolly and gently eased her away from him and shook his head, "Not right now, Yuki. We're on a mission, and Kisame is sleeping over there."

A small blush appeared across her face. She felt slightly stupid for having suggesting such. She just was ready to share herself with Itachi now. "Oh yeah, I'm sorry. Hahah, I almost forgot."

Sheepishly Yuki began to scratch the back of her head, and her eyes turned over to the side then. However she felt the warmth of Itachi's hands grasped underneath her chin. The Uchiha's firm gaze melted whatever was inside and she couldn't find herself to gaze away. "I think it's just best for you to get some rest before we make our move later." He told her.

Yuki shook her head no. She wasn't ready to stop talking to him. There was another pressing issue at hand that had been temporarily pushed to the other side of her brain. Itachi was supposed to have an answer for her about what else they were going to do, so Itachi didn't give up his life. Right now would be as a good as time as ever to talk about this because she wasn't sure when they would get the chance again. "Well, I'm not done talking to you."

"What else is there to talk about?" he told her.

"I want my answer," she said as she stared at him rather firmly.

Itachi stared away then. He knew what Yuki was talking about. Even if he wanted to, playing dumb wasn't something he did often and Yuki wouldn't fall for it. "Is it that important for you to let me live?" he questioned softly.

"Yes, yes it is," Yuki nodded her head eagerly in her response.

A soft sigh found a way to ease out of the Uchiha's lips as he brushed some strands of his hair away from his face. Yuki proceeded to persuade him, "All you want is for your brother to live a good life. If Madara gets a hold of him, there is absolutely no way for that to happen. If you pretend to die, you and I can watch him. Itachi, please, really, really think about it before you give me your answer."

There was a silence between them; one that made Yuki incredibly nervous. A cold sweat started to form on the back of Yuki's neck. She could feel her heart starting to sink into the pits of her stomach. Her hands clutched on to her knees as she stared frantically towards him. Itachi ran his fingers through his hair once again and eased his head back. He was gazing into the stars as he really thought about it as Yuki begged him to do. "Fine," he said and he took a hold of her hand.

"Fine…?" She wanted more of an answer than fine.

"We'll run off together after the fight with my brother, and watch over him" he said and a small smile formed on her face.

Her entire body just wanted to melt to the floor. Yuki felt so overwhelmed with happiness she wasn't too sure what to do. She gulped and felt tears form into her eyes. It felt like someone had taken a boulder and lifted it off of her shoulders. Yuki sighed and leaned her head on to his shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered.

Itachi just took her by the chin and stared up towards her. He kissed her briefly on the lips and whispered, "Go to sleep, now." He told her.

Yuki felt a tingly sensation on her lips and she gazed kindly towards Itachi. She agreed by giving a gesture with her head and positioned herself against the tree to fall asleep. The Uchiha stood up and walked back towards the log he was sitting on before Yuki called him over and sat there. This time though, his eyes watched her drift off to sleep as he felt the warmth of the flame fan across his face.

* * *

Morning came fast for the resting. Kisame and Itachi took turns on the look-out last night. Itachi was the last to do so he woke Kisame and Yuki up from their sleep. They woke themselves up before they were ready to set and move. They searched the vast area for any hints of the tailed beast they were after. They went through small villages and questioned people they were looking for someone. Asking non-ninja villages was the best idea. They didn't know who they were, despite the cloaks that gave them away. Yuki, however, was the only one who did not sport the cloak. She never gave Pein the answer that she was going to join. She seemed to make it obvious to Itachi she had no intentions in joining the organization, even from the beginning before her and Itachi officially got closer.

The afternoon was just beginning to shine through. The warmth was making Yuki a little bit uncomfortable, because of her utterly pale skin; she did ten to burn fairly easily. "Do you feel anything yet?" Yuki asked. As of now they were searching through another wooded area. It was getting clearer as they were searching around for a spot to just take a break.

"No," Kisame was the one to respond.

Yuki would have commented on how it was his job to do the tracking since this was his Jinchuriki to catch. She didn't because she didn't want to start any more argument so she just kept her lips zipped. That was something new for her. It was difficult but she was trying to best. Itachi's eyes fluttered shut as he was sensing around. "Alright," he said softly, "I feel something off towards the west. I think that's our target." He said.

Kisame turned around and grinned, "Well Alright."

Kisame was very excited to know that their target has been spotted. Kisame had his hand placed on the hilt of his broad sword. He was the one leading as they were walking because this was his target. Yuki didn't understand what it was with him and prey. It seemed he was very much like a shark. His prey was his own and anyone to touch it would get bitten by the sharp crooked teeth of the shark. Itachi and Yuki followed behind the Kisame and he kept chuckling underneath his breath. Their footsteps were soft upon the soil. In the far distance gray clouds were coming over their way. "A storm is coming." Yuki said as her lips pursed together.

The further they headed over towards the direction, the colder it was getting. Chills puckered on Yuki's skin. Her hair and Itachi's hair whipped around with the gentle breeze that started. There was a rustling sound in the distance and suddenly all of them stepped. Yuki furrowed her brows; she had gotten this overwhelming sense of chakra. The last time she felt something similar to this was when she had spotted the kyuubi kid. "I'm pretty sure that is it." Yuki said softly.

"Well no shit," Kisame said bluntly.

She wasn't afraid to toss the shark hybrid a death glare. Kisame just shrugged it off, it didn't bother him. He didn't feel threatened by Yuki at all. She seemed to have proved many times before that when she was left alone, she couldn't fend for herself. Kisame wouldn't believe anything else until Yuki was somehow able to prove otherwise.

There was something else that Itachi felt. It was far off into the distance and it felt familiar. This was another ting he feared bringing Yuki out. Those people who were after her. Itachi kept this to himself. Kisame would have been upset if he knew something might spoil their attempt of getting the four tailed beast that was so greatly desired. Carefully the three of them crept along, they wanted to ambush the four tails and catch him off guard. He was in sight now. What Yuki saw was surprising though. An old man seemed to be harboring the tailed beast. "We're going to be fighting an old man?" she whispered harshly, "That's hardly fair."

"Do you think an old man could kick your ass too?" Kisame grinned devilishly.

The girl held her fist tightly and the touch of Itachi's hand on her shoulder reminded her to stay calm. Yuki just looked away from Kisame. "We need to ambush him, Kisame since you're the main attacker you get a good spot to come down from when I give the signal for you to come down."

"Sure," Kisame said.

After a while with being partners with Itachi, it was either Itachi's way or the highway. His plan was usually done first and from there Kisame would take things into his own hands. "Yuki, follow me." Itachi commanded.

"Uh, okay." She said, obviously just a little bit confused.

Itachi was quick to walk off and Yuki had to do her best to follow and keep up with him all the while trying to be silent. Her eyes often glanced over to the side to see that the tailed beast was still in keen sight. "Listen to me carefully," he told her.

His critical eyes scanned her face to make sure she was all there and paying perfect attention to him. Yuki nodded her head, clearly understanding him. "We're going to let Kisame get the four tailed beast, completely by himself."

"Wait… what?" Yuki stared at him incredulously, "But, I thought you… Pein, I thought I was supposed to 'rough' the four tailed beast up to test out my abilities. What, do you think I cannot do it? Well, thanks for the vote of confidence." She seemed hurt.

Itachi placed his hand up with the palm open to signal her to shush. "Listen," he said again, "Do you feel that chakra?"

"The tailed beast? Of course, he's just a few yards away." Yuki said wondering where he was getting at.

Itachi held his from, motionless look "No, out further off to the north west."

Silence fell between them as she concentrated to feel this other chakra. It was fairly strong and it felt incredibly familiar to Yuki; too familiar. "Oh god…" she whispered underneath her breath. It dawned on her it was those same people who kept terrorizing her, for no reason. Or what seemed like it was no reason. "What are we going to do, Itachi?"

The Uchiha stood up straight and tucked his hands into his cloak and started pacing forward. Quickly, Yuki trailed by his heels to listen to him closely. "We're going to set up into a position, and I'll give Kisame the signal. He alone will get the tailed beast. I'm sure he won't be too disappointed with that. You head south and I'll head north."

"What will that do?" she inquired.

"I will attempt to fend them off until Kisame is done. When he is no longer occupied they will back off. I presume that their plan is to attack when Kisame is battling the tailed beast. That only leaves me and keeps it at an even number." He informed.

Yuki now understood, "But, what happens if they cut me off because they were hiding off somewhere else?"

Itachi smirked more to himself as he turned around to get into said position. "Think about it Yuki, you won't have the hustle of battling the four tells, but your skills need to be tested, if they cut you off then that'll be a perfect time to test your skills. That way, Pein won't prod me about the mission not being done the way he wanted it to."

Such a gentle breeze was going through the air now, and Yuki's heart was fluttering deeply because she was quite nervous about this. It was written all over her face and clutched her hands tightly. Itachi's eyes watched her body become rather rigid. For a moment he stepped closer and brought his hand underneath her chin. He gazed down into her eyes. Yuki felt her knees buckle and her lips curved into a weary smile. His expressionless façade alone was enough to calm her a little bit. His soothing voice cooed in her ear, "Don't be so nervous. You're training will pay off."

Yuki just nodded her head and went on with the plan just as they talked.


End file.
